Remembering You
by CraftyKeronian
Summary: They say that a mind is a terrible thing to waste. How much more terrible is it if you lose it? How do you find it again?
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own anything in this story! If it looks familiar, it's probably not mine... And sorry if something in my story looks like something in yours!**

* * *

It was a normal evening for the residents at Litwak's FamilyFunCenter and Arcade. The children were gone for the day, Litwak himself had locked up, and the "all clear" was sounded. With the building emptied, who are the residents? Why, the videogame characters themselves! Every evening, when no one was around to watch them, they stopped their work and lived their lives, much like an actor or actress shedding a stage persona. Game characters everywhere, after respawning and/or picking themselves up, disappeared from their home consoles to reappear in others.

One character in particular was in the process of picking himself up and out of the mud, just having been thrown off the roof of a huge apartment building. Wreck-It Ralph stood up, brushed himself off, and glanced at the hero watching him from the top. He smiled and cupped his hands over his mouth to be heard. "Nice job today, Felix!" he shouted. Fix-It Felix, Jr. gave him a thumbs-up and started climbing down the fire escape. "You did pretty good yourself, Ralph! You definitely gave that last kid a run for his quarter!" The giant and the repairman stood there for a few seconds, enjoying the feeling of a job well done before helping clear the last little bits of destruction and debris. Both men had somewhere to be so were eager to get the job done. The other tenants of the apartment came out and gathered around them.

"Nice job, Felix!"

"Stupendous!"

"Ten kids got all the way through today, huh? That's impressive!"

"Those were some good players!"

"Great wrecking, Ralph!"

Ralph blinked at the praise, still not quite used to being talked to, let alone getting positive feedback. He smiled and thanked the Nicelander, turning to leave and waving at the characters from Q*Bert in East Niceland. Felix hopped along after him. "Hold up, there! Don't leave without me! Excuse me, everyone. Gotta go pick up my dynamite gal!" Ralph rolled his eyes good naturedly, plunking himself down in the way-too-tiny cart of the train that would take them to Game Central Station. Something was tickling his throat, so he coughed to clear it.

They sat in silence, except for the occasional cough from Ralph, for a few minutes as they went through the tunnel. Felix, being a very bubbly and social character, could only stand so much silence so he turned around and started talking to Ralph. "Got any fun plans with Vanellope?"

"Nothin' too special, I suppose. She told me about this field of jello that you can bounce on, so she wants to check that out after the roster race. Too bad you guys can't make it today!" Felix sighed, a silly grin on his face. "We're sorry we're not coming! Tell her that we'll be there tomorrow, but its date night tonight. Tammy's never had a burger from Burger Time, so we're going to go there." Ralph laughed. "The first time I took Vanellope there she was so stunned to find out that they don't serve any candy! It was kinda funny watching her try to cram a burger as big as her head in 'er mouth." Felix laughed at the mental image that conjured.

The little train came to a stop as they arrived at the station. The handyman was able to jump right out, but poor Ralph had to pry himself up and out. With a groan, he was finally free and the friends walked out of the terminal, stopping when a buzz sounded and a small man appeared before them. It was Surge Protector and they got pulled aside for a random security check.

"Names, please."

"Fix-It Felix, Jr."

Ralph stood there in silence for a second, mentally weighing his options. He really needed to get going so he decided to cooperate. "Wreck-It Ralph. We're both coming from Fix-It Felix, Jr. He's going to Burger Time and I'm going to Sugar Rush. The only thing I want to declare is that I'm late. You got anything, Felix?" The little man shook his head. Surge nodded and let them pass. They moved on and Ralph coughed yet again.

Felix looked at his companion with concern. "You alright there, brother? Sounds like you're coming down with something." Ralph waved him off. "I'm fine. There's something tickling my throat and it won't go away. I must have inhaled a lotta brick dust." Felix looked at him doubtfully, but he knew of Ralph's stubbornness so there was nothing he could do. "If you say so…" The little hero saw his wife waiting for him outside Burger Time, so with a final tip of his hat he hopped away. Ralph waved good-bye and lumbered down the establishment.

After a few steps, he stopped; a puzzled look on his face. "Where was I going…?" He glanced around at the game portals and spotted Sugar Rush. "Oh right! Gotta go watch the squirt race! Can't believe I forgot that…" The wrecker turned his head and coughed into his fist. "Man, maybe Felix is right and I'm coming down with something. Hope this goes away soon." He shrugged his shoulders and entered Sugar Rush to cheer on his best friend.

* * *

Vanellope Von Schweetz was currently in 3rd place in the home stretch, aiming for a power up. "Gimme something good, please! I gotta knock Taffyta and Rancis out!" She drove through the block and was bestowed a defensive weapon. "Syrup Slick?! Really?!" she screeched. "I can't do anything with this!" Sighing and shifting into a higher gear, she tried to catch up. With one turn to go, she let the syrup go to keep anyone else from catching up to her.

She crossed the finish line a second or two behind Rancis, unable to reach the other two racers. Taffyta walked over to the pint-sized president with a huge grin on her face. "Nice racing! It's been a while since I've won! Not that I'm complaining, but why didn't you glitch ahead of us? You don't seem to have a problem with doing that during game play hours." Vanellope grinned back. "It's not life or death if I'm on the roster anymore so I promised myself that I wouldn't glitch in a roster race. It's not your guys' fault that you don't have superpowers, so I'm just trying to make it fairer!" Taffyta nodded. "That makes sense. And thanks." She gave Vanellope a lollipop and the girls chatted about the day's races.

"Hey, Kid! Nice job today!"

They turned to see Ralph coming down the path. He held out a fist for a top shelf, and his little buddy complied. She glitched onto his shoulder and started talking animatedly. "Did you see me out there, Ralphie? Wasn't I great? I woulda came in 1st if Little-Miss-Tootsie-Pop here hadn't hit me with five freakin' rounds of sweet-seekers and ice cream cannons!" Taffyta just laughed, "You shoulda stayed out of my way, then, 'Nilla Waif!"

The wrecker rolled his eyes at the banter between the girls and turned to address the girl in pink. "You did great today too, um… uh… Oh shoot! I forgot your name, kid. Sorry!" Taffyta smiled and waved it off. "It's no problem! I'm Taffyta, Mr. Wreck-It. And thanks!" She looked up at Vanellope. "I've gotta go, so I'll see you later! Stay sweet!" As she drove away, Vanellope looked at her giant friend with a skeptical look on her face. "You okay there, Stinkbrain? You've made it a point to learn all the racers' names and Taffyta's was the _first _one you got down! What's the deal, Chumbo?" Ralph shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I just had a brain-fart, that's all, Boogerface." The girl snickered. "So I guess you really _are _a Stinkbrain!"

"Whatever. If you want to wonder about someone, what's up with her? I mean, 'Mr. Wreck-It?' Really?" It was Vanellope's turn to shrug. "Taffyta's gotten more polite since the Turbo Incident, and besides! You scare the caramel sauce outta her! C'mon! I wanna see how high I can jump in that jello field!" They climbed in (on in Ralph's case) Vanellope's kart and drove off.

* * *

**A/N**

**This story is set after the movie, but how long after is up to you! I tried to be as ambiguous as I could.**

**This will be a RalphxOlder!Vanellope story, so be warned...**


	2. Chapter 2

The drive to Jello Mold Valley was pretty uneventful. To get there, they had to go through Candy Cane Forest and into Necco Canyon. Ralph looked up at the candy wafer walls pressing in on them in awe. "Wow! This place is impressive! But why is it called 'Necco Canyon'?" Vanellope laughed at his, in her mind, silly question. "'Cause when you shout you can hear a necco!" The giant groaned. He had walked right into that.

"How much farther?"

"We're almost there!"

True to her word, they soon came out into a sunny valley hidden in the canyon, filled with jello hills and planes. An idea came to the impish girl and suddenly she spun out, causing her passenger to go flying off with a shriek. The poor guy was bounced and pinballed from one surface to another, finally coming to rest at the top of a particularly high mound. He shakily (and not just because of the unstable surface) lifted his head and glared at the racer. "That was NOT funny, you rotten little cavity!"

"I beg to differ!" she squealed. With a bound, she was out of her little kart and jumping up to join her victim. "C'mon! Tell me that wasn't fun," the girl scoffed. Ralph snorted. "I dunno. Tell me whatcha think," and he grabbed her, throwing her across the field. It was Vanellope's turn to shriek, this time in glee. The wrecker watched as she rocketed from one place to another, lazily sticking out a hand to catch her as she went by. "That was awesome," she giggled, glitching to sit next to him. "I don't know what your problem is, Diaper Baby, but I thought that was great! Do it again!"

She looked at him with a worried look when he coughed heavily into a fist. "You okay there, Ralphie?" When he was finally able to breathe again, he smiled at her timidly. "I'm fine, kid. Don't worry 'bout me! C'mere." He held out his other hand. Vanellope knew Ralph well enough to usually know when he was lying through his teeth, and now was obviously one of those times. "Moron, your face is all red and I swear I saw a chunk of your lungs go flyin' by!" She put a hand on his forehead. "You're pretty warm, too." He scoffed, pushing her away as he sat up. "It's warm in here, Kid, that's all. Did we come here to have some fun or not?" Vanellope sighed. Ralph would _always_ make a fuss if _she _wasn't feeling well, but he never seemed to care about his _own_ wellbeing. She quickly thought of a plan to get Ralph to take her home without him feeling like he was raining on her parade. "Yeah, we did. Come jump with me, Stinkbrain!"

She leaped off the hill, closely followed by the villain. As they rebounded, she smacked him on the shoulder and shouted, "You're it!" Ralph grinned evilly. "You're on, Pint-Size!" They laughed as they bounced everywhere, Vanellope glitching all over to avoid being tagged.

"Slow down, kid! You know you can't control that glitch if you use up too much energy!" The brat just thumbed her nose at him and laughed harder. 'Thanks for presenting _that_ opportunity, Genius!' The girl looked for a suitable location to put her plan in motion. She came to a very large mound of jello and glitched her self into it, leaving her head poking out just as Ralph came into sight. Her body flickered and she made it seem like she was losing control. "R-r-r-r-a-a-a-a-alph! H-h-h-h-e-e-elp," she cried out pitifully. Her hero gaped and came to a wobbly stop at the bottom of her jiggly prison. The world seemed to be spinning, but he blamed it on jumping everywhere. "Didn't I tell you to take it easy?!" he yelled up to her. "I'm sorry! Ju-u-u-ust get me out!"

Sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose, Ralph looked at the jello to think of a way to get up. Vanellope was in the middle of the side, so he couldn't jump to the top, and he couldn't punch it, it would just bounce back. A thought came to him. "I wonder… well, one way to find out." He walked over to the jello hill and pressed his fingers to it, trying to gouge out a chunk. The Bad Guy was pleased to see his hand sinking in a few inches and he was able to tear out a hand-hold. "Yes! Here I come, Vanellope! Just hang on!"

"Like I'm going anywhere" was the snarky reply.

Progress was slow, but eventually Ralph came up to the trapped girl, sarcastic grin on his face. "Well! Fancy meeting you here, Princess Fartfeathers! Come here often?" The girl scowled at him, tears welling up. "It's 'president' and you know it, you overgrown gorilla!" He just laughed at her. "No, no, in my line of work it's the _princess _who needs rescuing, and you certainly need a rescue, _Princess_." Vanellope growled at him, blinked back the tears, and struggled to get out. She flickered as she used more energy. The villain immediately sobered and cupped her head in his hand. "Hey now, I'm sorry. Just calm down; I'm gonna get you out." Using one hand he gently dug around her and lifted her out. Ralph would need both hands to completely remove her jello casing, but as it was he could now slide down with the girl tucked safely the crook of his arm. At the bottom once more, he did just that.

"Better?"

The tiny racer sniffed, wiped her nose on her sleeve, and nodded. "I'm all funned out. Can we go home?" He smiled softly. "Sure, Squirt. Let's go." The giant held out a hand for the girl to climb onto and deposited her on his shoulder. They eventually came back to the kart and the little president hopped in to start it up. "You gonna be okay driving home, Kid?" Ralph inquired. Vanellope covered a huge yawn and nodded.

She thought 'Man, I musta used more energy than I thought,' and she said "I'll be fine. Don't worry 'bout me!" in a mocking tone. He could only sigh "Brat" and climb on the back. They drove in silence back to the palace. Ralph's head was still spinning and taking deep breaths wasn't helping.

Vanellope pulled the kart into the castle's garage and turned around to look at her friend. "Ralphie?" she said, batting her eyes and trying to look as cute as she could, "Can I stay at your house tonight?" The antagonist looked away and covered her accursed cuteness with one hand. "Geez! Not the eyes, not the eyes!" He turned back to her when she laughed and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Kid. Today is Friday, and that means tomorrow is an early day. Tell you what: I'll tuck you in and we'll talk about you comin' over tomorrow." Satisfied, the girl skipped up the stairs. The man stood there for a second, chuckling to himself. "That girl is gonna to be the death of me someday!" Ducking down to fit in the tiny door, he followed his little friend up to her room.

* * *

With Vanellope tucked snuggly in, Ralph made his way back to his own game. As he passed through the gate, the inevitable buzz of the security check sounded. The wrecker sighed and hung his head as the Surge Protector popped up to drill him.

"Name?"

"Mr. Mint."

Surge just rolled his eyes. "Name?" Ralph growled, "Wreck-it Ralph, like it has been for years! And don't gimme that crock about 'random checks'! It'd be random if you _didn't_ stop me." The SP just pushed up his glasses and continued. "Where are you coming from and where are you going?"

"I'm comin' from Sugar Rush, a'doy- and NO I don't have anything from there. I'm going home to Fix-It Felix, Jr. Please, Surge, I don't feel well and I'd rather not do somethin' we both regret, so _let_ me go home already!" The blue man shrugged and clicked his pen. "Thank you for your cooperation," he said dryly, "and have a nice night." He disappeared and Ralph continued his walk home. He passed through the Niceland gate and was buzzed for a security check again.

"Argh! For cryin' out loud, Surge!"

The SP didn't even bother to show up, but spoke aloud, "Oh, good. The security system works. You're free to go." The wrecker slapped his palm to his forehead and got into the tiny train cart. 'Lousy, pencil pushing mall cop!' he thought vehemently.

The trolley came to a stop at the platform in Niceland. The villain heaved himself out and headed home to the house he built, mostly. Felix eventually convinced Ralph to let him fix up his original shack and scale it to someone of Ralph's size. The brick house was a single story, about twenty feet high, with a twelve foot tall door with two doorknobs. Why two? Well, the door was actually two doors, one inside the other. The little one was perfect for a Nicelander to use, or a certain little president when she came to visit. Closing the door behind him, Ralph made his way to the bedroom, not even bothering to turn on the lights. With a sigh he collapsed on the huge bed, the mattress springs creaking. Having slept on bricks for thirty-plus years the antagonist found he had a hard time sleeping on anything else so the mattress was pretty stiff and there was no frame. Instead, it was held up by an orderly pile of- gasp- more bricks. It was also the only material that would hold _him_ up. Burrowing under the covers, arm over his eyes, Ralph became- for all intents and purposes- dead to the world.

At least, until morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Saturday was the busiest time for the arcade, opening two hours earlier and closing an hour later. Ralph woke with a start as someone pounded on his front door. "Hold on! I'm comin'!" He stumbled out of bed and made his way through the house. When he opened the door, he saw a frantic Felix on his doorstep. "Ralph! You were supposed to be up an hour ago, brother! Litwak will be here in five min-!" He stopped.

The repairman could see that the wrecker didn't look so good. The poor guy's face was flushed and he seemed to be having a hard time standing up straight. "Jiminy jaminy, Ralph! Are you alright?" Ralph shook his head to clear some of the fog from the fever, coughed, and waved Felix off. "I'll be fine. Sorry I'm late! I forgot to set my alarm, I guess. C'mon. We should probably get into positions." He gently pushed past the protagonist and shut the door behind him. Felix stared after him for a second or two then bounded after. "Wait! Did you have somethin' to eat?" Ralph looked over his shoulder to answer, "Not hungry! Thanks, though."

This didn't sit right with the little hero. Ralph was a big guy who needed a lot of energy so he was usually hungry, especially in the morning. 'Maybe I can get him to eat some pie at the end of a game. That might perk him right up!' he thought to himself. 'He really doesn't look good. I bet he's got a fever! I hope I can talk him into going to see Dr. Mario.' Everyone got into positions as the first quarter alert of the day sounded.

* * *

The day progressed without much development: Ralph wrecked and Felix fixed. After every game, Felix would try to get Ralph to eat some pie, but always he was told off. He could see that Ralph was getting more and more irritated as he kept bothering him, but the handyman refused to give up. After the twelfth game, Felix cornered the antagonist, pie in hand and an intense look on his face. "Now look here, brother! You look terrible and haven't eaten all day. I'm gettin' a little concerned here and I'm _not_ going to stop bothering you until you eat _something_!"

The giant opened his mouth to retort, when they both heard a window open up above them and saw Gene poke his head out. "Leave him alone, Felix. If the oaf doesn't want to take care of himself, that's his pro-Ow!" He was cut off as a piping hot pie smacked him in the face. Ralph glared at the tiny mayor while he dusted off his hands. "Sorry to waste a perfectly good pie like that, Felix, but it was either that or punch him. Look, I appreciate the fact that you're worried about me, but I'll be okay! I promise. You're right, I don't feel well, but there's nothin' we can do about it now. It's Saturday and that means the arcade is closed tomorrow. I'll just take this evening and tomorrow off. The arcade closes in a few hours. I'm sure I can hold on 'til then." He patted his friend on the shoulder, coughed, and got into position for the demo screen.

Felix shook his head sadly and moved to his own place. He could see that his friend was rapidly tiring and it hurt that he couldn't fix it. His hammer may be magical, but it could only really fix surface damage. Broken windows, smashed walls, and even a black eye were within its limits, but illness was not.

As Felix was repairing a broken demo window, another opened next to him and Mary put a pie out. "Psst! Felix! Is Ralph alright?" she hissed. "I don't know if you've noticed, but he's really slowing down!" The repairman nodded as subtly as he could. "I don't rightly know, Mary. Ralph admitted that he's under the weather, but what can be done? Stay here." Felix hopped up to a different window so as not to arouse suspicion, and then came back down. "Psst! You still there, Mary?" Her window opened a crack.

"Still here."

"Good. Listen, can you please make a cherry pie for Ralph? I know he hasn't eaten at all today but he won't listen to me. Maybe he'll take something you give him." Mary nodded, shutting the window with a "Can do!" and was gone. The hero smiled a bit more, believing there was something he could do now for his friend.

Unfortunately, that happy little bubble was burst at the end of the last game. Felix thanked his lucky stars that the gamer playing was a veteran. He had won several times before and didn't stick around to watch the end of the game when Litwak told everyone politely to clear out. If he had, he would have seen a very distressing and quite strange sight. The villain was not thrown off the roof, as was per the norm. No, the giant wrecker stumbled and fell off, the Nicelanders and their hero rushing to try and catch him. There was no scream of defeat as Ralph had already blacked out before hitting the ground. He landed face down as usual so he wasn't hurt, but he was out cold.

The Niceland residents rushed to the stairs and Felix climbed down the fire escape. "Oh my land! Ralph! Are you alright?!" The pint-sized hero rushed over to the unconscious figure and strained to turn him over. "Oh, good. He's still breathing!"

"Felix! Is he okay?" Felix turned and saw the apartment dwellers, trying to control their rising sense of panic. "Well, friends, I'm not gonna lie to you. Ralph is burning up with a fever _and _he's out for the count. We need to get him home. C'mon and help me move him!" The little people exchanged nervous looks before someone piped up, "We can't move him ourselves. He's too heavy!"

The handyman grabbed the wrecker's shoulder and grunted, trying to lift him. "I don't believe that! You guys throw him off the roof at the end of every game!"

"There's a big difference between throwing him two feet forward and carrying him across to the other side of the game! And on the roof Ralph is awake and falls onto our arms. Here, he's unconscious and on the ground. I don't know if we can do it, Felix."

"Well, you'll never know unless you try, neighbor. Let's give him the ol' 'heave-ho'! We can do it together!" Everyone exchanged glances, but walked up to the Bad Guy and tried to lift him. They managed to lift him a few inches, but that was as far as they could get before they had to set him back down again and try to remember how to breathe.

Felix sat in the mud, his back against Ralph's shoulder, breathing heavily. "Jiminy jaminy… Now what?" He sat there for a moment more, when he got a flash of inspiration. "Oh! It's Saturday! Saturday is when Bad-Anon meets now! We can get them to help! I'll go get them! Everyone, please get some blankets and cover Ralph up. Mary, please stay with 'im while I'm gone."

"I sure will. Just let me grab something really quick!" and she dashed inside. Felix turned to the remaining residents. "Alright, everyone! Panicking will not help, so let's all keep our heads and I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail!" Bounding away, he hopped on the train and was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Game Central was especially crowded today. Felix took a moment to collect his wits and set off for Pac-Man. He was stopped short by a realization: Surge had a tendency to stop Bad Guys more often than Good Guys. Time was of the essence and he didn't want to waste it getting several villains through security. "Surge! Could I have a moment of your time? It's an emergency!" Suddenly the little blue man was there.

"What can I do for you, Fix-It Felix?"

"Surge, something is wrong with Ralph and I need assistance moving him. I need the guys from Bad-Anon to help, so please don't stop them! They're all with me and we're going back to my game." The glorified mall cop sighed but agreed. He disappeared when Felix had another idea. "Wait, Surge! One more thing!"

"Now what?"

"Don't stop the villains going back to their meeting, please? As a personal favor for me. They shouldn't be punished for helping someone."

"Just this once, Fix-It."

"Thanks, Surge. You're a peach!"

The Surge Protector disappeared again and the handyman almost made it to the entrance of Pac-Man, when he was stopped by someone else. "Sweetums! Where you goin'?" It was Sgt. Calhoun. "Milady, I can't stop to chat. Ralph is down and we can't move him!" Ding! Another idea came to him. "Sweetheart, can you grab a stretcher? One big enough to hold him? ThanksIloveyoubye!" Without stopping to hear her answer, he disappeared into the portal.

* * *

Felix ran through the blue maze, having learned that hopping was a bad idea (hitting the low ceiling had earned him a goose-egg). "Hello! Anyone here? I need to talk to the Bad-Anon group!" He turned the corner and ran into Clyde. "Oh, Clyde! I'm so sorry! You alright?" The ghost smiled at him. "No harm done. What can I do for you, Felix?" The little man picked himself up. "I need to talk to the guys from Bad-Anon and I don't know where they meet! Ralph is unconscious and we can't move him!" Clyde turned blue for a second as he went into panic mode then calmed down. "I was just heading there. Follow me."

Man and ghost wound their way to the center of the game. When they arrived, they saw that only Eggman, Zangief, and Bowser were there. The villains turned from their small talk to stare at the hero. Felix gulped but took a step forward. "Gentlemen, I need your help! Ralph is unconscious and we can't move him. I didn't know who else to turn to. Please, can you lend a hand?" The three exchanged worried glances.

Zangief was the first to speak. "Tell me, small one, what has happened? Why is Ralph out like light?" Felix gripped his hat tightly. "I'm not entirely sure. He has a fever and didn't eat at all today, so that must have something to do with it." The antagonists were already on their feet. "Do not worry. We'll help, friend!" Hero and foes made their way back to GCS, with Clyde staying behind to send more help as more characters showed up.

* * *

Felix, Zangief, Eggman, and Bowser clambered out of the little train cars and made their way to the mud pit where Ralph lay, still knocked out. They could see Mary sitting on a chair next to him and pressing a washcloth to his face. The little woman looked up and ran over to the group. "Oh, thank goodness you're here! Ralph is getting pretty bad and I don't know what else to do!"

"Calm down, Mary. Surely it's not as bad as you think."

"No, Felix. It's bad. You need to see this." She led him over to Ralph's side where they could see that the mud had dried up and Ralph himself was covered in a layer of dirt. His breathing was pretty ragged, too. "Jiminy jaminy… Is that why there aren't any blankets on him?" Felix gasped. She nodded. "We brought some out, but when we noticed he was hot enough to dry out the mud we were afraid of making him any hotter. Felix, the mud _never _dries out!"

Zangief got down on his knees so he could more easily see Mary. "Do not worry, sudarynya, we are here to help! Eggman, how should we be doing this?" The evil genius took a moment to make some mental calculations and comparisons. "First, let's see if we can wake him." He gently smacked the wrecker's cheek. "Ralph! Wake up!" Nothing. He slapped harder and shouted, "Ralph!" Still nothing. "Drat. Well, Bowser has a tail, so walking next him will be difficult. Let's have him take Ralph's shoulders- under the arms, just like that! Zangief, you'll just have to grab one of his legs and I'll try to get the other." The Bad Guys nodded affirmation and grabbed hold of what they were supposed to and lifted. They got Ralph up, but everyone could see that they were straining to keep him there.

"Guys –huff, huff- I don't think I can go-huff, huff- backwards. I'll trip over-huff, huff- my tail." Bowser panted.

"Right!" Zangief gasped. "We shall turn –puff, puff- around than."

"Wait! You don't have to!" Felix shouted. "Ralph's house is over this way. Mary, go open the door, please." As the Niceland woman bounded off, Felix ducked under Ralph and held up his back, as much as he could anyway. "Alright –ugh- let's go!"

"Little fixer –puff- you are sure to –puff, puff- to die under there. Whew- come out."

"Less talking! More walking!"

They made it half way when they just couldn't hold the big guy up anymore. Thankfully Felix got out before the other guys put Ralph down. "Whew! How much farther?" Bowser inquired. "We're half way there, gentlemen! Just a –gasp- a little farther!" The group was just about ready to get up and try again when Sgt. Calhoun came out of the power cord tunnel on her cruiser.

"Fix-It! I've got that stretcher! What in Sam Hill is goin' on?!"

"Milady! Just in time!"

Felix bounded over to his true love, stopping short when he noticed a set of legs behind her. Legs that had candy stripes and were attached to tiny black boots. "Vanellope? Is that you, hon?"

The racer jumped off the hoverboard and ran over. "Felix! Sarge said Ralph is hurt! Where is he? Is he okay?" The poor kid was so worked up she started to flicker as her glitch acted up. "Slow down there, little darlin'! He's not hurt, but he is sick."

"Then why do you need a stretcher?"

The handyman looked anywhere but at her, trying to find a way to tell her that her hero was out cold. He didn't have to. The girl looked around him and saw Ralph with the other Bad Guys. "Ralph!" She ran to him, dropping to her knees by his head. "Stinkbrain! You in there? You have to wake up!" The giant actually stirred, but didn't wake. She put her hand on his forehead but pulled back on contact, as if she had been burned. Vanellope looked to Felix with tears streaming down his face. "What's wrong with him?"

It was Zangief who picked her up and cradled her close. "You must be Vanellope. Ralph's little drazhe. He speaks very highly of you in Bad-Anon. Says you are best racer in arcade." She sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "Really? He said that?" The wrestler nodded. "Many times we have to tell him to stop talking so other members can share. Listen to me, dorogoy, Ralph will be alright. He has wonderful little friend to look after him." The girl smiled, blinking away the last of the tears.

"That is a good girl. Zangief will be truthful with you. We do not know why Ralph is asleep, but we must believe that he will wake in the morning. You were the first to make him respond and that is good thing." He set the child down. "Please, dorogoy, go stand over by Mrs. Fix-It. Ralph will be crushing _my _skull if you are hurt!" The racer couldn't help but giggle.

By this time, Felix had walked up with the stretcher. "Please, Vanellope, go over by Tam-"

"Over by Tammy, nothin'! You wimps need all the help you can get!"

The soldier had come up to Ralph's shoulder, arms crossed. "Kid, the best thing you can do right now is make sure Wreck-It's door is open, the lights are on, and the path is clear. After that, go get Dr. Mario. You know where he is, right?" She nodded. "Yeah, but Ralph is my best friend! I wanna help move him!" Bowser laughed. "There's nothing you can do, prin-" The glare he got shut him up very quickly.

The girl snorted, turned up her nose in a huff, and lightly jumped up onto Ralph's chest. "Just you watch, Sewer Bait." She closed her eyes to concentrate better and control her turbulent emotions. Felix yelped as he realized what she was going to do. He grabbed her from her perch, breaking her concentration. They disappeared in a flash of blue code, reappearing just left of the door with a slam. "Ow! Felix! What'd you do that for?!"

The repairman groaned and picked himself up. "Well, hon, I- oh my land…" Vanellope had slammed into the wall so hard that her forehead was bleeding. "Lemme fix that for ya, sweetie. Anyway, I don't think you should glitch Ralph anywhere right now. I know you can do it," stopping her in mid protest, "but I don't know what'll happen to you. Ralph has had his fair share of colds over the years –he even had pneumonia once- and I've never seen him knocked flat on his duff like this." He gasped and covered his mouth. "Excuse my potty mouth! I just don't wantcha getting sick too."

She had her gaze cast down on the ground, so he tipped her chin up. "You can help Ralph other ways." The pint-sized president nodded and went to do as she was told. "Alright everyone, you lift and I'll slide this under him. One, two three, lift!" They heaved, huffing and puffing, and Felix slid the stretcher in place. "And we're good!" Ralph was set down and the villains plus Calhoun gulped in a couple of breaths.

"Maybe you guys aren't as wimpy as I thought," Tammy admitted. "Coming from the woman tough enough to scare the overalls off Ralph, I'll take that as high praise!" Eggman chuckled. "Now, madam, if you could please stand over by Bowser. Being smaller, his tail should impede you less."

It was at this point Vanellope came back out. "Everything's all set. Hold on, Ralphie! I'm gonna get help."

"…rrife…safe…kih."

She stared at her friend numbly for a few seconds, a smile creeping up on her face. Suddenly, she jumped up, fist pumping the air. "Sweet mother of monkey milk, he's waking up! I'll be right back, Stinkbrain!" She glitch-ran to the train, still cheering. The adults looked at each other for a second, when Calhoun spoke, "Only one way to find out. Wreck-It!" she shouted, "Up an' at 'em!"

"…mm tire…go…'way…"

The dynamite gal smiled softly for just an instant, and then barked, "Let's go, ladies! We got a job to do." They lifted the stretcher, Felix ducking under to help hold it up, and went inside.

* * *

**A/N**

**Sudarynya is the phonetic spelling of Сударыня which is Russian for ma'am, drazhe is Драже which is sugar plum, and dorogoy is дорогой which is dear one. I'm not sure if they are correct but Google Translate has no reason to lie to me... :D**

**I'm not even sure Zangief knows any Russian at all, I just figured it'd be fun if he did!**

**And to UndercoverReader (love the name, btw!) I can't tell you anything because it will spoil the story for you. You're just going to have to see what happens :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Vanellope hopped out of the Fix-It Felix, Jr. train and made her way to a map, muttering about "always get turned around here." She could see that Dr. Mario was just ahead, between Galaga and Rampage. With her destination in sight, the girl glitch-ran through the station, trying not to crash into anyone, and disappeared into the portal.

Dr. Mario's game was dimmer than she expected so Vanellope decided to play it safe and just run down the tunnel. "Hello! Anyone here? I need help!" She passed the game-play screen and came up to a receptionist's desk. A sign on the front read [Walk-ins by emergency only.] Being only about three feet tall, and a terrible jumper, the racer glitched up to the top to be able to see, falling down again in surprise.

"Malted milk balls! What was that?"

Angry chittering could be heard.

Recovering quickly, and mentally prepared, she glitched up again and sat on the counter. "Sorry 'bout that, Red Hot. Didn't know what to expect! I need to see the doc. Is he in?" The little red virus chattered again, tapping his wrist as if pointing to a watch. "What time is it? Time for you to get a watch, a'doy!" Red rolled his eyes, pointed to a sign-in sheet, and tapped his wrist again. "Oh! 'Do I have an appointment'! No, I don't." Red's eyes narrowed. He got off his chair and went around the desk to point at the sign under her feet. Vanellope slid off the desk, landing next to the virus, and looked at the message. "It is an emergency!" she exclaimed. "My friend, Wreck-It Ralph, is unconus… unconso… out cold with a fever and we can't wake him up!" The little germ was skeptical. He had his arms folded over his chest, a cross look on his face. "It's the truth!" she pleaded. "I know he's a Bad Guy, but between you and me he's a big SweeTart and he really needs help!"

Red sighed and split into two. "Whoa," the girl gasped, "wish I could do that!" Both germs snickered. One of them hopped back into the chair and the other motioned for her to follow. They walked behind a curtain and came to a huge door with a little door inlaid inside. 'Just like Stinkbrain's house,' she thought. The red virus knocked, heard a "Come in!" and entered through the little door. As they came in, the doctor looked up from the papers he was reading. Vanellope could see a blue and a yellow virus in a corner chattering to each other.

"Ah, Scarlet! Is that today's patient with you?" he said with a smile. Scarlet chattered, shaking his head. Mario frowned. "I see." He turned to the girl. "Scarlet said you have an emergency. She also said it would be easier if you explained it." The tiny racer gaped at him for a second.

"SHE?!"

This wasn't the first time someone was amazed at the fact Scarlet was a girl so Dr. Mario took a second to explain and make introductions. "From the day we were plugged in, it felt strange thinking of my co-players as an 'it' so I asked them what they were and their names. They didn't know their genders and didn't like their names, so I asked them what they wanted to be and gave them new names. Scarlet Fever wanted to be a female and the other two wanted to be male. That's Influenza," Blue, formally Chill, waved, "and Dengue over there." Yellow, formally Weird, waved next. "After arcade hours they are my assistants. What seems to be your emergency, Miss…?"

"President Vanellope Von Schweetz. My friend, Wreck-It Ralph, has a really high fever and won't wake up! Cherry Split here didn't believe me." Scarlet shrugged and squeaked. "You'll have to forgive her. We heard about the Sugar Rush incident, but not in great detail. Den, Flu," he said, turning to the germs in the corner, "please help Scarlet write and deliver notes to today's patients. Tell them their appointment has been pushed back an hour. And Scarlet, please pencil Mr. Wreck-It in for a late afternoon exam tomorrow. Hmm… better make it a two hour appointment." The viruses all chittered, divided until there were dozens of them, and filed out the door. Mario turned back to the girl. "Where is your friend now, Miss?"

"Felix and a bunch of other people were trying to get him home when I left." He nodded and got up. "Good. He's taken care of, so I can take a little more time preparing." The doctor grabbed a bag and started putting bottles of pills and various medical instruments inside. "I'm afraid I'm not one for endurance running so we'll have to walk. After you!" The pair left the office and set out for Niceland. On the way, Dr. Mario tried to get a clearer picture of what was going on.

"How long has Ralph been unconscious and when did this whole mess start?" Vanellope reiterated yesterday's experience and today's right up until when she left to fetch him. "I think I burned my hand on his forehead, he was so hot! And it looked like he couldn't breathe very well. Zangief said I was the first one to get Sti- I mean Ralph to respond and he actually said something when I left, but it was like he was sleep-talking." They came to the Fix-It Felix, Jr. cart and clambered in. "Hmm. That high fever has me worried more than anything."

"Are fevers bad?"

"Only the high ones. Fevers are the body's natural way of taking care of an infection. They catalyze some immune functions and help denature the microbes' toxins." The girl held up a hand to stop him mid-lecture, "So, you're telling me fevers are really lyin' cats?" The doctor hadn't laughed so hard in a long time.

* * *

The three Bad Guys, having gotten Ralph home and into bed, had left (M. Bison and Neff had shown up too late to help). It was only Felix, Calhoun, and Vanellope in the room as Dr. Mario gave the villain a look over. He shined a light in Ralph's eyes and took a step back to keep from being knocked over when he put a massive hand up. He grabbed a small syringe from his bag and shot the patient in the arm. "Well, he's definitely responsive, and that's the important thing. I gave him a shot of Megavitamins. He just needs to sleep this off." Everyone looked hopeful, especially Vanellope. The doc held up a bottle of medicine. "Wake him up and give him a spoonful of this every four hours or so to bring down his fever." Vanellope came up and took the bottle from him. "Keeping a cold compress on his face and arms will help too. I've set some time aside tomorrow at 3:00 for Ralph to come in for a more thorough exam." Felix came up to shake his hand. "Thanks for comin', doc! We were in a real pickle! I'll walk you back to the train." The little men left, leaving the girls behind.

Calhoun watched with a bemused look on her face as her companion struggled to open the medicine bottle. "Push the cap down and then turn, Sugar Troll. There ya go." The girl beamed as the cap came off. "Wow, that's hard! Glad this is a liquid. I don't know how we were gonna get Wreck Van Winkle here to take a pill." She sniffed the bottle's contents. "Yuck!"

Calhoun chuckled. "It's medicine, Shorty. It usually smells like that." Vanellope stuck out her tongue, set the bottle down on a table, and went into the kitchen to get a spoon. "Man, I'm glad he has some regular sized spoons hanging around! I think a Ralph sized spoonful would kill him!" Carefully grabbing the medicine she made her way to the huge bed her friend was on and hopped up. "Ralph. Hey, Ralphie, wake up."

"…go 'way… 'mm sleepin'…"

"I know, but I need you to drink something for me, 'kay? It's gonna make you feel better." She slowly poured a spoonful of the liquid into his half-open mouth. The giant grimaced, but swallowed. "Thanks, Ralph." She was answered by a soft snore. The girl hopped back down, went into the bathroom, and disappeared under the sink. Tammy followed her, curious about her actions. "Whatcha doing, Squirt?"

"Dr. Mario said to put a cold compress on Ralph," came the muffled reply, "and this is where he keeps all the towels and stuff." She came out with five or six rags in her arms and glitched up to sit on the counter. Calhoun sighed. "I know you're worried about Wreck-It, but you need to get home to bed. It's late."

"It's only 10 o'clock! I'm fine!" the girl protested, stifling a yawn.

"See! That's what I'm talking about. You're nine-"

"Twelve!"

"-and you need your sleep. C'mon. I'll take you ho-"

"No."

The solider blinked. "Come again?"

"I'm not going home. Ralph needs me here."

Tammy sighed, running her fingers through her hair. A snort from the other room reminded her where they were so she grabbed her little friend's hand and pulled her gently off the counter and outside. As soon as the door was shut Vanellope yanked her hand out of Calhoun's and glowered at her. "Look, Vanellope, I know you think you can take care of Ralph, but this is a big job, even for an adult! You're just a kid-"

"I am NOT 'just a kid', Chuckles!" the girl wailed. "I took care of myself for fifteen years- glitch and all- when _NO ONE _wanted me! I think I can handle my friend's fever for a night!"

"Is everything alright?"

Both girls turned with a start as Felix came walking up. He took in the sight of their angry faces and decided he needed to step in. "What's the matter, Honey Lamb?" Calhoun sat on the second step behind her. "Felix, help me talk some sense into this greenhorn! She's a child! She shouldn't _want _the responsibility of playin' nurse all night!" The handyman sighed, rubbed the back of his neck, and sat next to his wife.

"Tell me, Sweet Pea, why is this so important? I'd like you to look me in the eye when you answer, and I'd like the truth. Not just 'he's your friend'." The girl looked at him, sharp reply on her tongue, but her gaze wandered to the door behind him. Her features softened and, deflated, she turned again to answer, her attention bouncing from him to the door and back again. "…Don't want 'im to be alone…" she finally murmured, "not anymore."

The couple exchanged glances, seeing the same thing, and stood up. "I think we can allow some flex on this one, don't you think, dear?" Calhoun sighed, unhooked a walkie-talkie, and gave it to the racer. "Alright, Vanellope, you win. He's your charge for the night. Call if you need help, 'kay?" Felix opened the door for her, nodding his affirmation. The girl beamed at them, gave each a hug, and whispered "Thank you" as she went inside.

Closing the door, the little hero turned to his beloved. "You saw what I saw, didn't you, Milady?"

"She loves him? Yes, I saw."

"Should we be worried?"

Tammy shrugged. "I don't think so, Sweetums. There's all kinds of love in the world. It's up to her to decide which category her feelings belong in." They set off for their home. "Besides, love is a two-way street. It depends on how Wreck-It feels too. If he feels _that _way we'll find a way to deal with it."

Felix sighed. "She's just so young. Is Vanellope even ready for love?" Tammy reached down and grabbed his hand. "Even youngsters can fall in love," she reminded him. "How many teenagers has Litwak caught makin' out by the skee-ball machines?" He laughed, "Too many!" She knelt down to kiss his cheek. "Exactly! And the pipsqueak does have a point. She may _look_ nine but she thinks and acts like a responsible adult. Most of the time." The handyman sighed and stared at his shoes glumly. "I just wish there was a way for them to be together! I've never seen Ralph happier than when he's with Vanellope." Calhoun nodded, batting the bill of her husband's hat down. She smirked, when a sudden motion caught her eye.

She looked up to see Q*bert and Coily walking down the street of East Niceland. An idea came to her. "Darling, you _made _the bonus level for Q*bert and the gang, right?"

"That's right, ma'am."

"So you would be the expert to see about manipulating code, right?"

He frowned. "I dabbled with it, so I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I can try some things. Why?"

She grinned mischievously. "I think I just solved our little dilemma."

* * *

Vanellope heard the door click as it was shut and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Not that I'm complaining, but that was weird! One minute she wants to send me home and the next she's okay with me here? Whatever floats her banana boat, I guess." She went back to the bathroom and grabbed the discarded rags. She was just getting the first one wet when a thought occurred to her. 'I'm gonna get wet bringing these in at the same time and it's gonna take forever one at a time.' She ducked under the sink again, reemerging with a little bucket.

"Perfect!"

Throwing the already wet rag in, Vanellope filled the bucket and made her way back to Ralph's room. "Work smarter, not harder!" she smirked. As the girl put the first cold cloth on his forehead, Ralph opened his bleary eyes. "…'nellope?"

"Yeah, it's me, Stinkbrain."

"…sayin' 'ere?"

"Yeah, I'm staying."

Seemingly satisfied, the Bad Guy sank back into sleep. The little president couldn't help but smile and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

**A/N**

**So... funny story... I love Dr. Mario, it was one of my favorite games as a kid, so I had to include the viruses! I started thinking of names I could use for them and I had their backstory all picked out...! And then I remembered that they probably had names already :( They did, and they suck! So I gave them better ones :) Something about 'mwa ha ha' comes to mind :D**


	6. Chapter 6

The sun was streaming through the door of Litwak's arcade and into the perpetual nightfall of Fix-It Felix, Jr. Ralph could see through his closed eyelids that it was morning, but the covers were deliciously warm and he really didn't want to get out of bed. As he was lay there, trying to remember the details of the strange dream he had last night, he heard a click as his front door was closed.

Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and rolled over to check the time. Or, he would have if there was a clock to check. 'Why is my alarm clock gone?' he wondered as he sat up. It was the soft breathing coming from the living room that convinced the giant he needed to get up and investigate. He swung his feet over the side of the bed, careful not to hit his heels on the bricks, stretched, and got up.

Ralph poked his head into the room and saw a little figure on the couch, fast asleep. Running his hand through his hair, he smiled and carefully sat down on the other end of the couch. "Maybe that dream wasn't so strange after all." The villain noticed something sitting on the coffee table and frowned when he saw it was his missing alarm clock. "What the-"

BRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGG!

Vanellope cried out in alarm, glitching straight up in the air, and came down with a thump. "I'm up! I'm up!"

"You an' me both, Kid!"

Blinking the sleep from her eyes, the girl finally noticed her friend smiling at her. "Ralph! You're awake!" she cheered and jumped into his arms, level with his face. "You had me worried there for a second, Chumbo!" she said as she put one of her hands on his forehead and the other on her own. She frowned, stifling a yawn. "You still have a fever, but it's not as high as yesterday. Oh! That reminds me." The girl slid out of her hero's arms and grabbed the medicine bottle and spoon. "Hold this," she pushed the tiny spoon into his colossal hand and poured out some medicine when it was steady. "Drink that for me, will ya?"

Ralph stared at it like it was staring back. "Kid, I know this is a stupid question, but what is this?"

"It's medicine, a'doy! For your fever! Just take it already."

"Yes, _mother_!" he said, testily. The wrecker glared at the racer for a second, spoon still in hand, when he realized what he said and laughed. "You're gonna spill, Doofus!" the girl scolded. He chortled and quickly downed the medicine. "Eugh! Yep, this definitely explains a lot." Vanellope glitched and sat on the arm of the couch in a huff. "Explains what, genius? And what's so funny?" Ralph turned from her to hide the blush on his cheeks. "It's nothin', Kid."

This wasn't the answer she wanted to hear. Determined to have her explanation, she disappeared in a flash of code and started harassing him in the form of poking and tickling. "Tell me, Stinkbrain! Tellmetellmetellme!"

"Ha, ha! Vanel- ha, ha, ha- stop it! Ha, ha, ha! I mean it!" Reaching every which way, he tried to grab the little pest. Finally, she was caught. "HA! Gotcha, you deranged little humming bird!" Giggling, she struggled to pull her arms out of his gigantic fists. "C'mon! Tell me what's so funny." Ralph looked away sheepishly. "It's stupid…"

"I'll be the judge of that. Now, spill it!"

The man's face got red again as he struggled to find the words. "I think I dreamed you were my mom." The girl was stunned, but only for a second. She laughed hysterically, eventually getting out, "This oughtta be good! Details, Sonny-boy!"

Scowling at his captive, he gently tossed her onto the cushion next to him. "Well, not _you_, per say, but she kinda looked like you. She had long, black hair and a red ribbon in her hair- a non-candy ribbon. I was small and she was big. All I really remember is that she jammed a piece of black licorice in my mouth and gave me a bath with all my clothes still on." The giant looked at his tiny friend to see she was clutching her sides, tears streaming down her face and gasping for air. He rolled his eyes but continued, "To make it worse, a little police car would drive by with its siren on. When it did, she would give me another piece of licorice and dunk me under the bathwater."

With his head in his hand and elbow on the couch arm, Ralph watched Vanellope get a hold of her self. She was wiping away her tears of mirth when they heard knocking and saw Felix poke his head in through the little door. "I heard laughing. Does that mean we can come in?" The Bad Guy grunted and the Fix-Its entered. The handyman walked over and punched his game-time foe playfully on the arm. "You had us worried there, brother! How ya feelin'?"

"Like I got hit by a train that was on fire. What happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us, Wreck-It. What's the last thing you remember?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. It's all pretty hazy. I remember rescuing Princess Pixy Stix here from her jello prison and going home, but nothin' after that." Felix frowned. "That's disconcerting! A whole day, lost. I _knew_ there was something wrong with you!" He recounted the events of yesterday.

Ralph rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. He was a pretty independent guy and so had always taken care of himself (being an outcast for so long didn't help either). Being looked after was not something he was used to. "Wow… Sorry to make you guys do that. And thanks." The protagonist smiled, "That's what friends are for!" The antagonist smiled back then gestured to the bottle on the table in front of him. "So where did that come from?" Calhoun cut in with a reply before Felix could. "I got it for you. 'Always help a comrade,' I always say." He nodded. "Thanks." She waved him off. "Thank the twerp over there. She's the one who stayed with you all night."

Stunned, Ralph looked over at his best friend, smiling softly at what he saw. The poor girl was so tired her head bobbed as she struggled to stay awake. He scooped her up and hugged her as tightly as he dared. "Thanks, Kid."

"Any time, Admiral Underwear," she yawned, turning to Tammy. "What time did you say Stinkbrain's doctor appointment was?"

"'Bout three-ish. Why?"

"Just wondering."

Ralph's eyes narrowed at this revelation. He set the girl down and tried to rear in his anger. "You hungry, Kid?" She nodded vigorously. "I'm starving!" He pointed to the door, "Me too. How 'bout you go pick some apples and I'll make pancakes. Sound good?" The girl beamed and nodded again, skipping out the door. When she was gone, the wrecker glared at his remaining companions. "I'm _not_ goin'!"

Felix grinned apprehensively. "C'mon, Ralph. This is different than when you had pneumonia. I'm sure-"

"Save it!" the villain bellowed. "I'm not goin' and that's that!" He started towards the kitchen, but found his path was blocked by Tammy. The soldier scowled and crossed her arms. "I don't know what your damage is, Junkpile, but you are _lucky_ you weren't hospitalized yesterday. Suck it up and go to the blasted appointment!" Ralph glared at her. "Try and make me, G.I. Jane," he growled. His threat was a little lackluster, though, due to the savage cough that escaped his throat. The woman grinned. "You're just proving my point." He glowered and said nothing. She sighed. "Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice."

"Go fly a kite!"

She flared her nostrils as her temper rose. "Fine. You leave us no choice but to bring out the big guns." Ralph snorted. He doubted there was anything they could do or say that would get him to go to the doctor. Calhoun turned around to open the door. She took a half step out when she suddenly realized someone was in her way. The wrecker stared incredulously as Vanellope timidly walked back in, a single apple in her hand. Felix and Calhoun looked startled too. "Hey, Stinkbrain, I couldn't help but overhear. You shout really loud! Lemme get this straight: Hammer Man and Trigger Happy say you need to go to the doctor, but won't. Why? Is it scary?! Is that why you never took me there when I was sick?"

Felix looked at the little girl in surprise. "You've never been to the doctor, Sweet Pea? Well, maybe we'll take you too for a check up." Vanellope's eyes widened and she flickered, glitching to hide behind Ralph. "Nuh uh! If big, bad, scary Ralph doesn't like going to the doctor, something is definitely wrong here!" She turned to look up at him with wide eyes, tears threatening to spill over. "Don't make me go, Ralphie! Please?" she pleaded.

Ralph groaned. He could never totally resist the puppy dog eyes, and she knew it, but it was important that she get a check up _sometime_, and now seemed like a good time as any. He probably _should_ get looked at too. His old traumas were his own and Vanellope didn't need to think that she should never ask for medical help.

He bent down to be closer to her level and pulled her in for a hug. "Hey now, there's nothing to be scared about. I'm just being a diaper baby 'bout this. I'll make you a deal, 'kay? If you go to the doctor, I'll go too" Vanellope looked at him suspiciously and held her hand out. "Shake on it, Chumbo!" Ralph smiled, took her hand in two of his fingers, and shook. The girl smiled back, glitched out of his arms, and sauntered over to Calhoun. "That was too easy!" she cackled, giving Felix and Calhoun a high five.

Ralph looked at them, disbelieving what just happened. He just got played like a hand-held game consol! His face got red, and not just from his fever. He stood up with a scowl on his face. "You and your crocodile tears, you rotten little cavity!" The villain glared at the group and started towards the door. "Where you going, Swamp Breath?" The giant didn't even turn around as he snorted, "To go get some more &#* apples!" and slammed the door behind him. The girls turned to the repairman questioningly. "I didn't know you were teaching Ralph Q*bertese." Vanellope said with a grin. He flushed. "Well, I certainly didn't teach him _that_!"

* * *

**You have my brother to thank for the gameboy reference :)**

******Just in case it's not obvious at this point, this will be a RalphxOlder!Vanellope story. I'm sorry if I dropped a bombshell on you in the last chapter**


	7. Chapter 7

Sunday afternoon found Ralph and Vanellope arguing outside of Sugar Rush. The wrecker was fruitlessly trying to persuade his little friend to get off his shoulder and go home. "C'mon, Kid! I don't need a babysitter, so go home already! There's gotta be something you need to do, being _the one in charge_, and all." She would only shrug and teleport back to her perch. "Not really. When no one showed up to watch me race yesterday, I knew something was wrong so I told Sour Bill he was in charge for the weekend. Besides, Dipwad, there aren't any papers I need to look at and Minty is the one in charge of the Petty Argument department this week. I'm free as a Dove!"

He grunted and made one last half-hearted grab for her. "The _what_ department?" She evaded him, glitching to the other shoulder. "The Petty Argument department. I noticed that the other racers tend to fight over the stupidest things and I got tired of them bothering me for _every little thing_, so I told them one of them would be in charge of refereeing the arguments and I would get the final say in the big stuff." The villain nodded. "Pretty smart, Kid." The little president beamed, "I know! Now I don't have to tell Rancis that he's not being picked on when Adorabeezle hits him with a million power-ups, or Taffyta that Cirtusella did not steal those lollipops… stuff like that! And if someone different is in charge every week, I'm not playing favorites." The girl slid down her hero's arm and started pulling his hand. "Now c'mon, Stinkbrain! We're gonna be late!"

"I told you! I don't need a babysitter!" The racer just smiled tauntingly. "A deal's a deal, Ralph!" she said in a sing-song voice, "I'm going so you are too and you can't weasel out of it. Move your molasses!" Tugging a few more time, Vanellope finally let go and started off on her own. She knew he would follow. Sure enough, a resigned sigh reached her ears and she could feel the tremor of his steps behind her.

"Ralph! Wait, tovarishch!"

They stopped and saw Zangief hurrying over, smile on his face. "Good to see you up and about, my friend! We were all very concerned." Ralph blushed and looked away. "Thanks for your help, uh-" *cough* "-buddy." The wrestler turned to Vanellope and smiled. "What did I tell you, malyutka? He would be fine! You took care of him, yes?" She nodded. "Good, good! Well, I must be going. I'm glad you are alright. Take care, friends!"

They parted ways.

Ralph thought about… what's-his-name said and came to an unhappy conclusion: Vanellope must have been there when he was unconscious. His heart wrenched. 'Is that why she's so worried?' he wondered. 'How bad did I scare her?' Wordlessly, he scooped his friend up and held her in his arms as he continued to walk through the station. She looked at her hero in surprise then grinned mischievously, "Worried 'bout the visit to the doctor are we, Diaper Baby?"

The villain shook his head. "Worried- yes. Doctor- no. Vanellope, why were you the one with me all night?" She froze. "You're my friend, a'doy!"

"So are Felix and Calhoun, but it was you that was there. Why?"

She remained silent. 'I want to be the one taking care of you, Ralph,' she thought. No matter how she tried, though, she couldn't bring herself to say it aloud. Ralph took her silence as confirmation to his conclusion. He held her up to his face. "Did I scare you yesterday?" The little president scowled at the floor, face beet red. Chuckling, he put her in one hand to ruffle her hair. "I'm not goin' anywhere. You know that, right?"

"Except to the doctor!" she countered. "You missed the port, Weasel Face!" Sure enough, wrapped up in his concern, Ralph had walked right past the Dr. Mario gate. He rolled his eyes and, voice dripping with sarcasm, said, "Drat! You saw right through my clever plan to distract you." He set the racer down and headed back. "C'mon, Kid. Let's get this over with."

* * *

Ralph was sitting on a tall, sturdy table, resigned look on his face, thermometer in his mouth, and Vanellope on his shoulder. She refused to be moved and he wasn't in the mood for a fight so she was allowed to stay there. Dr. Mario was at his desk filling out a chart. "It's been a long time since you were last in, Mr. Wreck-It. How- Den, you can take that thermometer out now- how long has it been?" Though his mouth was no longer obstructed, the wrecker mumbled. "What was that?"

"Twenty six years," he sighed. The doctor clicked his tongue, scolding, "Too long! Well, we'll just have to do a complete physical." Ralph growled under his breath, but agreed.

"Oh, hey, Doc? Do you mind takin' a look at the twerp, too? She's never had a physical." Mario looked at the girl, noticing the fact that she was now clutching her companion's hair tightly and trying to hide. He smiled, trying to set her at ease. "I would be glad to. Miss Vanellope, will you please come down?" She shook her head vigorously. "Uh-uh!"

"Don't worry, dear. I'm not going to examine you yet. I just want you to be able to see everything I'm going to do so you know what to expect." Reluctantly, she let go- much to Ralph's relief- and glitched to the floor. The doctor's eyes widened, but he took it in stride. He turned to the blue virus, "Flu, go get the big pressure cuff please?"

With that, he returned his attention to the giant on his table. Dr. Mario went the whole nine yards on Ralph's exam: reflexes, dermatomes, myotomes, and the like, patiently explaining to Vanellope what he was doing and why. She even got to play with the stethoscope! "Aside from whatever you've got, Ralph, you're fit as a fiddle. Alright, young lady, your turn." He led her to a smaller table next to the big one and repeated the process. "Done! You can get up now, Miss." She glitched back to her spot on her hero's shoulder.

Dr. Mario frowned at her. "Miss Schweetz, if you don't mind me asking, is teleportation a power from your game?" The girl shrugged, "No. It's part of my pixlexia."

"Is that a problem, Doc?" Ralph piped up.

"That depends. Does it bother you that you do that?"

"Are you kidding?! It's AWESOME!"

"Duly noted. Does it hurt when you do that?"

"No."

"Then there's no problem."

He went back to his desk and grabbed a couple of bottles, syringes, and vials. Vanellope felt Ralph stiffen. "Whatcha gonna do with those, Doc?" she inquired. "I just need a few samples from you two and then you are free to go," he replied. A creaking sound was heard. The girl looked down and saw that her friend was gripping the edge of the table so hard his knuckles were white and the table was being scrunched into his hand. "You okay there, Chumbo?"

"Fine!" he squeaked. She giggled, knowing full well he was not. "Aww… is widdle Walphie afwaid of medicine?" she cooed mockingly. "Laugh it up while you can, Brat," he choked out, "He's gotta get you too." That shut her up.

The doctor turned at the verbal exchange and chuckled. "Miss Vanellope, I need you to come back down. We'll take care of you first so Mr. Wreck-It can see everything will be okay." She gulped but appeared on the table. "I'm just going to give you a booster shot and draw some blood."

"Don't you need paper and a crayon?"

Both adults laughed, although Ralph was still noticeably anxious. "No, I mean I'm going to take some blood. Will you take off your hoodie, please?" The little president complied, exposing the white undershirt she was wearing. He swabbed her shoulder and gave her the shot, apologizing when she sucked in a breath with a hiss. It was the phlebotomy needle that frightened her though. "Sweet mother of monkey milk!" she exclaimed, "What're you gonna do with _that_?!"

"This is how I'm going to take some blood, nothing to worry about. Now, you're going to feel a pinch when I put this in," and he pinched the inside of her elbow to prove his point. "One pinch and I'm done. Are you ready?" She nodded, determined look on her face. "Good girl. I want you to look at that patch ceiling for me and count the dots out loud. And please hold still."

She swung her head up and was about to start counting when she noticed a motion out of the corner of her eye. Ralph had pried up a hand and was holding it out to her, weak smile on his face. She smiled back and gripped his finger. "Thanks, Stinkbrain. 'Kay… One, two, three, fo- OWWWW!" she howled as her tiny hand clamped down tightly. It took every ounce of self control for her to not glitch away from the pain. "You did very well, Miss Vanellope. You can look if you want."

The girl turned and looked at the blood flowing through the clear tube. "Oh, wow! That's so cool! It looks just like cherry goo. Ralph! Look at this!"

"Uh-uh."

Surprised, she blinked and pivoted to look at him. The Bad Guy was looking away from her and was a little green around the gills. "I don't like seeing blood. Or needles," he murmured. 'Well, that explains a lot,' thought the tiny racer, but then she remembered all the times she saw Ralph with blood on his hands. "Waitaminute… I've seen you with bloody knuckles and you've never had a problem with it. What's the deal with that?"

"It's different when it's your own blood," he defended.

"Right," she drawled.

Dr. Mario took three vials of blood, removed the needle (causing Vanellope to gasp), and bandaged her up. "There. As soon as Ralph is done, I only need one more thing and I won't bother you any more." He turned to the poor guy. "Are you ready, Mr. Wreck-It?" Eyes wide, Ralph was barely able to control his panic and nod. "Good. Den, Flu, can you grab that step ladder for me, please? Thank you." He walked over to the desk and grabbed a syringe that was easily three times the size he used on Vanellope.

"MOTHER HUBBARD'S CUPBOARD!"

The wrecker violently coughed after his expletive. Once he stopped moving, Vanellope glitched up to his shoulder to try and offer some comfort. Hands all the way around his head, she whispered soft enough so that only he could hear her, "It's okay, Stinkbrain. You can be scared. It's going to be okay." She repeated her mantra while Ralph clenched his eyes shut, gritted his teeth, and gripped the table. Mario inserted the needle after swabbing his intended location and injected the medicine, causing the villain to groan in pain. "One more, Ralph, and then I'll draw some blood."

"ONE MORE!" he yowled, causing Vanellope to grip harder to keep from falling off. "Isn't _one_ shot enough?!" The little man grabbed the next syringe. "That was your booster shot. This is the stuff that will help clear up what brought you here. I won't do it until you tell me you're ready." And with that, he sat on the top step of the ladder.

Taking deep breaths, the antagonist tried to calm down. "Kid, let go. You're giving me a headache. I'll be okay is a sec." She loosened her hold on his head but didn't let go completely. "Is this why you didn't wanna come?" she asked, nuzzling his cheek. "Among other reasons," he exhaled. "Alright, Doc. I think I'm ready."

Nodding, the medical man got into position and swabbed a spot just below the first site. Ralph braced himself and Vanellope whispered comforting words. Another groan escaped from the giant as the medicine was injected. "Well done, Wreck-It. It's almost over." The little doctor hopped off the ladder, grabbed a clean phlebotomy needle, and returned to his place. "Now, I want you to look at Miss Schweetz and describe for me the candy that's stuck in her hair. The more detail, the better."

"This is stupid…" he muttered under his breath. "So was counting the ceiling dots, but I did it, Weasel Face," the shoulder child countered. "Just do it. I added a few new sprinkles. See if you can find them!" Shaking his head in hopelessness, the villain started describing the candies. Once Dr. Mario felt Ralph's arm relax he made his move. Ralph had to bite his tongue to keep from shouting loud enough to burst his friend's eardrums, only allowing himself a whimper. Three vials of blood later, he too was bandaged up.

"Thank you for being so cooperative, you two. One last thing," he said, handing them each a cup with a lid. "I need a urine sample. Miss Schweetz, you can use that bathroom over there, and Mr. Wreck-It there's a larger one over that way." Vanellope just gaped at the cup, her brain short-circuiting. "You mean… I gotta…?"

"Tall glass of lemonade, Kid, if you catch my drift." Ralph didn't look too pleased either.

Dr. Mario held his hands up in surrender. "I wouldn't ask you to do this unless it's really necessary, and right now it is necessary. I'm sorry. I know it's embarrassing." Simultaneously groaning in disgust, the patients made their way to their assigned bathroom. "I'll be outside in the hall, so you can leave your cups on my desk. Come find me if you have any questions," he said, taking his leave.

Vanellope was finished first, so she sat in the doctor's chair and spun herself in circles while she waited. Ralph came out not too long after. "Ralph?" the girl squeaked. "Yeah, Kid?" She stared at the floor, face as red as the twizzler in her hair. "If this is gonna happen every time, I don't think I wanna go to the doctor's office anymore." The man smiled sympathetically. "C'mon, I'll take you to, uh-" *cough* "-get somethin' to eat." They walked out to the receptionist's desk where Mario was talking to Scarlet.

Ralph remembered there was something he _did_ want to ask. "Vanellope, wait for me here, 'kay?" She looked at him with those big hazel eyes. "Why?" He nudged her forward. "Just wait, please. Doc! Can I talk to you for a sec? In private?" The two men disappeared behind the curtain. Vanellope waited a full five seconds before she followed behind them, ignoring the red virus' chatters and squeaks. She crept up to the door and carefully pressed her ear to it to hear. Unfortunately for her, Ralph knew her quite well too.

"Vanellope!" he barked, "I said wait outside!"

She yelped and ran back to the front desk.

* * *

**Tovarishch is the phonetic spelling of товарищ which means friend and malyutka is малютка meaning little one. ****Supposedly**

**For those of you who don't know, a dermatome is a nerve pathway in your body and a myotome is the group of muscles that are activated by that nerve**


	8. Chapter 8

Ralph and Vanellope were sitting at the bar in Root Beer Tapper drinking sodas. The child had conned him into a belching contest, at least until Tapper told them to move along. She thumbed her nose at him which earned her a cuff on the head. "You know, Kid, Tapper _has _banned people from coming back for a month or two. Sometimes permanently." The girl blew a raspberry at the wrecker and glitched out the door.

Ralph rolled his eyes. "Sorry 'bout that. She can be a real brat sometimes. And sorry 'bout the noise." The bartender shook his head good naturedly and wiped down a glass. "If it were anyone else, you probably _would _have been banned for a month! Ah, I'm just kiddin'. I'd let it slide, you bein' my friend an' all, Ralph, but it's a little too busy today for tomfoolery." The giant nodded and slapped down the coins that had appeared in his pocket. He was almost out the door when he heard a call behind him, "I'm glad you have a friend like her, though." He smiled and waved over his shoulder as he went to collect his diminutive companion.

The twosome were walking aimlessly through Game Central Station when Vanellope saw Scarlet Fever walk by and she recalled she wanted to ask Ralph something. "Hey, Stinkbrain?" she said as she glitched up to his shoulder.

"What's up, Boogerface?"

"What'd you ask Dr. Mario about?"

He snorted, "If I wanted ya ta know, I woulda asked in front of ya."

Vanellope indignantly appeared on the ground and kept walking. Chiding himself for snapping, the man picked the girl up by her hood and put her back on her usual perch. "I'm sorry for snappin' atcha, Kid. It's grown-up stuff so don't worry, 'kay?" She looked away and scowled. He sighed and jostled her playfully. "I'm okay, though. Promise."

"Then why wontcha tell me what it was?"

"Because you really don't need to know! Let it go, Vanellope!"

The racer knew the Bad Guy was starting to lose his temper so she used her trump card to defuse him: she hit him with the cutest face she could muster. "I'm sorry, Ralphie. Friends worry 'bout friends! An' I'm worried 'bout you."

Ralph rubbed his face. 'I hate it when she does that…' He sat on a bench, catching Vanellope when she bounced off her spot and setting her on his knee. "I'm gonna be straight with ya, Kid. I haven't been feelin' like myself, but Doc said it's probably stress and whatever I've got. Nothin' to worry about." She looked at him dubiously, but nodded and slid to the ground. "Fine, but will you answer another question for me?" He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Depends on the question, Squirt."

"Why do you hate goin' to the doctor?" The giant scowled and flushed. "It's kind of a long story, and I don't remember everything." The little president started walking. She looked behind her to see if he was following. "Well, c'mon, Bubble Butt! Move your molasses!" Ralph blinked in surprise, "Where're we goin'?"

"To your house! If it's gonna be a long story, you might as well tell me there. You owe me a sleepover, anyway!"

Smiling in resignation, he heaved himself off the tiny bench and ran past the girl to the Fix-It Felix, Jr. train, trying to start up a friendly race.

* * *

Ralph really didn't want to tell the story. It's never fun to relive a traumatic experience and his first doctor's visit was pretty traumatizing.

Vanellope was determined to get her explanation and she saw through every excuse he could come up with to delay telling her. She only went along with his pretext of waiting 'til they got back to his house where no one else could hear because she knew she would never get it out of him otherwise.

Still, the wrecker tried one last time to distract her. "You know what, Kid?" he asked jovially, "I learned how to make cinnamon rolls. Wanna make a batch?" The racer rolled her eyes but decided to humor him. "Sounds good, Ralphie." He started to gather the ingredients they would need. "And while we're doing that you can tell me what the big whoop is about you and Dr. Mario." The giant froze, hand halfway to a cupboard door. He hung his head, sighed, and turned to look at her. "You're not gonna leave me alone, are you?" She smiled tauntingly from her seat on the kitchen table and shook her head.

He dropped onto a chair, hand over his face. "Well, it was twenty six years ago, roughly. For the whole year before I was constantly sick. I had this terrible cough and breathing hurt like nobody's business, but we didn't have a doctor in the arcade so there was nothin' to do about it."

"What happened if someone got sick back then?"

"If you die in your game regenerating restores you but no one likes dying and I _can't_ die here. I'm programmed to take huge falls, the river is too shallow compared to me, and the Nicelanders can't hurt me at all. Felix tried hitting me with his hammer a few times, but it never did anything."

"Was this when you had moo-nomia?"

"It's pneumonia, and yeah, it was, but I didn't know that at the time." He hunched over in the chair. "Anyway, I couldn't breathe and even the stuck-up Nicelanders were getting worried. Of course, they were more worried about if they were going to catch whatever I had than if I was okay so avoided me even more." Vanellope glared at no one in particular, angry at the residents. "Those no-good, rotten, Airheads!"

Ralph shrugged nonchalantly. "Them's the breaks, Kid. I didn't want their pity anyway; I just wanted to breathe without feeling like someone was stabbing me." The girl bit her lip sadly but said nothing. He continued his narration, "Then one day, a new game was plugged in. It was Dr. Mario. I didn't like asking for help- still don't- so I was reluctant to visit the newcomer. Felix ended up threatening to bring the doctor here if I didn't go there."

The villain got up and started grabbing ingredients again, talking over his shoulder. "When I got there, it was obvious that I was one of the first visitors he ever had and I was definitely the biggest. I think I must have been the first Bad Guy he treated too. He was pretty wary." Though he couldn't see it, his little friend was scowling at this.

"Gobstoppin' jerk…"

He smiled, sitting back at the table. "I wouldn't go so far as to call him a jerk. He didn't refuse to help me because I was a Baddie, he just never interacted with another villain before." The smile became a small scowl. "I would, however, say he was a noob. He didn't seem to know what to do with me. I didn't fit through the door, and I broke the table he told me to sit on so he had me laying on the floor. When he figured out it was pneumonia, made worse because of my living conditions and all the dust I inhale on a daily basis, he decided that a shot and choking me would be best." She covered her mouth in horror, squeaking.

Ralph grinned sarcastically, "Oh, it gets _better_. So for the shot, he pulls out a needle 'bout as long as my arm, sticks it in, and hits a nerve. As for choking me, he stuck a tube down my throat, and honestly I have no idea what happened next." Vanellope was now white as a sheet and staring at him, dumbfounded. 'I think I've scarred her for life!' he lamented to himself.

The giant pulled her in for a hug, tickling her in the process. "But you know what, Kid? Twenty six years is a long time. Dr. Mario learned a lot in that time and obviously got better using a needle. Those Megavitamins are more powerful than he thought so he never does anything like that anymore. And I obviously survived." She squealed with laughter, unable to glitch away. Grinning evilly, he tickled her all the more. "Ra- ha, ha, ha! Ralph, stop! Ha, ha, ha! I can't breathe! Ha, ha! Stop!" He stopped and she gasped for air.

Ralph tousled her hair and chuckled, "Ready to make some cinnamon rolls?" The racer nodded the affirmative and they set to work.

* * *

After the flour fight, Ralph finally put the treats in the oven and dusted himself off. "What do you wanna do now, Ki-" he stopped short. The girl in question had her head on her arms on the table and was fast asleep. Her hair was almost white from all the flour in it and she drooled just a bit.

She was absolutely adorable.

The man carefully picked her up, deposited her on the couch, and tucked a blanket around her, smiling. The lack of sleep yesterday and laughing so hard so much today had really taken their toll on her and she crashed hard. That was just fine with him. Fighting an illness really does take it out of you so he was considering crashing too. Before he could decide one way or the other a knock came from the door.

It was Mary, holding a pot as big as her. "Evening, Ralph!" she chirped. "Evening," he said quietly. "Can you keep your voice down, please? Vanellope's asleep on my couch."

"Oh!" the little woman gasped. "Sorry! Well, I'll keep this short, then. I just wanted to bring you this." She held out the pot which was brimming with soup. "I know you're not a very good cook yet, and no one wants to cook they they're sick anyway!" The wrecker took the pot gingerly, not wanting to accidentally crush it. "Well, uh… uh… thank you, ma'am. You didn't have to do this." The Nicelander smiled and tittered. "Nonsense! It was a pleasure. Just bring the pot back when you're done. Good night!" And with that, she left.

Ralph closed the door, set the pot on the counter in the kitchen, and poured himself a bowl of vegetable soup. He downed it one gulp, almost choking when it burned his mouth. "Sweet Mother Hubbard, that's hot! How did she carry that thing all the way here?!" He grabbed an ice cube from the freezer, set it on his tongue, and put the rest of the liquid in the fridge.

'That was really nice of her,' the villain thought as he made his way to bed, 'I'm gonna have to thank her again in the morning, if I remember.' That darkened his mood. "I hope Doc is right," he uttered aloud. "If this gets any worse, I'm in trouble." He bolted back out of bed when he smelled the burning rolls.

* * *

Ralph was sleeping peacefully. So peacefully she almost changed her mind, _almost,_ but Vanellope knew he was just _begging_ for a dive bombing. Besides, she could use the laugh. The question was: where to land? She decided his face was best and glitched to be ten feet above her victim, impishly shrieking "Jawbreaker!" and fell. The Bad Guy half opened his eyes, which shot open with an accompanying scream. He didn't even have time to put his hands up before he got a face-full of little girl.

"Vanellope, get off of me," he said, muffled because of her sweatshirt. "What's that? You're gonna have to speak up, Ralphie!" She clamped herself around his head when he started moving, sliding down when she couldn't hold on. Ralph slowly sat up and pulled her off by her hood. "Get. Off. Me," he growled.

The imp shrugged, indifferent look on her face. "Sheesh! Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed!"

"No, _someone_ got a _CANNONBALL_ to the face! There's a difference!"

She disappeared from his grasp and reappeared at the door, arms behind her head. "Whatever. It's time to get up, Bed Head! The arcade is gonna open soon, and-" She never got to finish her sentence. Ralph had sprung out of bed and grabbed her.

Breaking through the front door, he ran for the train at top speed. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!" he howled. "We gotta get you back before someone plays your game!" He had her tucked under his arm like a football and she was starting to feel ill from the constant up and down motion. "Put me down, Stinkbrain! I'm gonna puke!" He didn't seem to hear her so kept chugging along. They were ten feet from the platform now and the president had to do something to escape. She disappeared in a flash of blue light.

The giant skidded to a halt by the train and plunked the tiny girl in the front car. Or, he would have if she was still in his hand. "Vanellope! We don't have time to play! Get yer behind over here!" He looked around, trying to spot her. "Will you chill out and listen to me, Doofus?" came a voice from above. Vanellope had teleported to the roof of the terrace. In his panic it had slipped from Ralph's mind that she liked high places. "Kid, come do-" She held up a hand to stop him. "Relax! The arcade doesn't open for another hour and I'm not on the roster today." He looked at her incredulously, shouting, "Why didn't you say so?" which earned him a snort. The girl didn't look at him as she lay on her back, hoodie string in her mouth. "I tried, but you must have forgotten to get the crud outta yer ears and didn't hear me."

She heard a thud and lazily looked over to see her friend flopped on his own back on the ground, wheezing like a broken accordion. "You are going to kill me one of these days," he gasped. Laughing, the brat glitched down to be _just_ out of his reach and thumbed her nose at him. "That'll learn ya!" she crowed "Now, are you gonna lay there all day or are you gonna help me make pancakes?" He glared at her. "What? Don't you have breakfast taken care of, little Miss I'm-on-the-ball?"

"_Somebody_ forbade me from touching the stove ever again!"

Ralph got up with a groan. "_Somebody_ set the kitchen on fire last month!" he retorted. "Honestly, I don't know how someone can set water ablaze." They started walking back to the house, Vanellope still just out of grabbing distance, Ralph pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I picked more apples," she said quietly.

"How many is 'more'?"

"Two."

The man laughed so hard tears rolled down his cheeks. He could never stay mad at her for long.

* * *

Something was stirring deep in Ralph's code. Something angry, hungry, and viro-tastic.

* * *

**I'm going to stop your thought process right here: Turbo is dead and not coming back so don't even go there!**

**I would also like to apologize to anyone who has had pneumonia before. I haven't so I don't know how it's treated and the point was Dr. Mario didn't either so please don't kill me!**


	9. Chapter 9

The next few days passed without much incident.

Ralph sent Vanellope home, reminding her that as leader of Sugar Rush she had a duty to be there for her citizens. She snickered at the use of 'duty', but promised to stop slacking off. "For now," she muttered out of earshot. Felix kept a subtle but watchful eye on his gigantic friend. Right away, he could tell something was wrong. He noticed that Ralph never called the Nicelanders by name, not even Mary, he still didn't have much of an appetite, and his cough hadn't gone away completely. He also stuck very close to the protagonist when they left Fix-It Felix, Jr. to watch Vanellope's roster races, as if he was unsure where to go.

It was now Wednesday evening and the Fix-Its were retuning home after the daily roster race. "I'm just not sure what to do," the handyman muttered. "Not sure about what, Sweetums?" He looked forlornly at his wife. "I don't know what to do about Ralph! Something is wrong with him, I just know it!" Her gaze turned steely. "So I'm not the only one who noticed, huh?" she said darkly. "Apparently not, Ma'am."

They walked through the station hand in hand, silent, and lost in thought. Both were pondering about what was happening to the wrecker and how it would affect the racer. "Sweetheart?" Calhoun eventually asked, "Have you considered taking a look at Wreck-It's code?" The handyman shook his head. "I don't see how it would help, Love. I'm afraid that if I try to restore his code it might accidentally reset Ralph and that would hurt Vanellope somethin' awful." They clambered onto the train. "Although," he said, almost to himself, "there's no harm in looking. If it comes to it, a reset will keep our game from being unplugged and losing Ralph forever."

Felix escorted his beloved home and went to the code well, promising to be back soon. The code for Fix-It Felix, Jr. was hidden in the basement of the apartment and could only be accessed by pushing on a hidden door on the side of the building. The repairman shoved the wall with all his might (it _was_ made of brick, after all) and slipped in. He came to a door with a game paddle lock and entered the universal code. As the door opened he dropped his hat and gloves off to the side so as not to leave them behind by mistake and jumped into the well. He swam without a safety rope, never having need of it before. The door would stay open until he manually shut it.

Arms pin wheeling comically, Felix zipped over to the file containing Ralph's data. It had been so long since he was last here that the hero didn't notice that the file was a brighter red than usual. He double tapped the code to open it and quickly scanned the contents. 'Nothin' seems to be amiss,' he thought. 'It's not a problem with his code, so Ralph just needs some rest!' Rising up, Felix closed the data file, swam back out, and closed the door while whistling a happy tune. In the darkness of the code well, the villain's icon became a shade brighter and slightly transparent.

* * *

It had been a day or two since he had spent this much time with her and Ralph could tell there was something on Vanellope's mind. He was sitting in her office while she signed a few more papers and she would constantly look over at him, as if she were checking that he was still there. "Is there somethin' wrong, Kiddo?" She turned a light pink but said nothing. He sighed, "I can't help you if you don't tell me what the problem is, ya know." She flushed red and buried her nose in her documents. The president could feel her best friend staring at her and tried to ignore him, but couldn't.

Dropping her pen on the desk she slid out of the chair and walked over to where he was sitting. She motioned for him to pick her up and the Bad Guy complied, tucking her head under his chin as he hugged her tightly. "What's the matter, Grease Monkey?"

"It's stupid…" the racer muttered into his neck.

"I'll be the judge of that," he chuckled. "Now, spill it!"

She sniffed and nestled closer. Finally, she said, "I've been having bad dreams lately. Something would happen to you and you would die, or I would go to sleep and you were gone when I woke up." The girl started crying. "I couldn't find you no matter how hard I looked!" she wailed. He shifted her so she was curled up in the crook of his arm and stroked her cheek with a massive thumb. "It's alright, Vanellope," he whispered. "I have nightmares like that too. They're just dreams." The tiny racer took a shuddering breath and grabbed his hand, pressing it to her cheek. "You don't get it," she said in a low voice. "I know they're just dreams, but when I wake up it feels like it's really gonna happen." He nuzzled her gently. "No, I _do_ get it. Every time I have a nightmare 'bout you I have to stop myself from charging over here to make sure you're okay."

The two friends sat together for a time, content to be still. Vanellope knew Ralph still didn't understand her plight, but she was willing to let her fears go and dwell on how safe and happy she felt _now _in the arms of the one person that meant the world to her. They both whipped their heads up as the candy clock chimed the hour. "Almond kill joy," she scowled. The giant smiled tenderly and set her on the ground. "You wanna stay at my house, Kid?" The child beamed so happily she was almost luminescent. "Can I?" He nodded, adding, "As long as you're back here on time tomorrow morning." She cheered and hurried to put her forgotten papers away.

Ralph waited for her at the front door of the castle while Vanellope told Sour Bill where she was going. When she appeared on his shoulder they departed. The girl had her fingers intertwined in the man's hair and around the back of his neck to keep from falling off.

She had perked up considerably by the time they returned to his house in Niceland. She was looking down the street to see if Felix and Calhoun were home yet when she almost toppled over. Ralph had stopped so suddenly the racer would have fallen if she wasn't holding on. "What's the deal, Chump?" she asked angrily.

"Kid, I'm having a hard time puttin' a name to a face. You know who that is?"

She followed his gaze and saw a little red germ napping on the bottom step of his stairs, a white something clutched in her hand. A little warning bell went off in the girl's head. "That's Scarlet Fever, a'doy! What's she doing here?" she asked suspiciously. "Got me," he said flatly. He coughed and Scarlet woke, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Vanellope called out, "What's up, Red Hot?" The virus waddled over and held out the white thing to the giant, which turned out to be a letter. Carefully bending over so as to not disturb his companion, Ralph grabbed the tiny letter and gingerly opened it.

[Dear Mr. Wreck-It Ralph,

Concerning the issue we discussed at your last visit I have discovered something that requires your attention. Scarlet Fever will escort you back at your earliest convenience.

–Dr. Mario]

All the blood drained from his face. Vanellope didn't notice; she was too busy reading and rereading the note. "Ralph, what's goin' on?" she squeaked. The villain didn't answer. Instead, he turned to the visitor and croaked, "Let me take care of her an' I'll meet you at the train." Scarlet nodded and toddled off. The girl was so stunned at the exchange that she didn't react right away when Ralph made his way to East Niceland. Passing under the arch snapped her out of her trance and she glitched down to the ground in front of him.

"HOLD IT!" she screamed. "What the _Hershey_ is going on?!" He stopped and knelt down to look at her. "It's grown-up stuff. You don't need to worry 'bout it."

_WHAP! _

Vanellope had punched him in the nose! It wasn't hard enough to hurt, but it did startle him. He held up a hand to deflect her continuing assault. "I h-h-h-h-ha-a-a-ate y-y-y-you!" she shrieked, her extreme emotions causing her to involuntarily glitch. Every word was emphasized by a sporadic blow. She hit him a few more times for good measure and disappeared.

The wrecker sprinted for the train knowing that's where she'd be heading. Sure enough, there she was, twenty feet in front of him and losing ground due to her glitching. He surged past and blocked the path. The girl skidded to a halt and was captured.

"I'm sorry, Kid," he sighed, walking to his original destination. "I hafta do this alone so I want you to wait for me at Felix's house." He looked at her and immediately regretted doing so. Her look of absolute hurt broke his already aching heart. "I thought we were friends," she said softly, yet accusingly. The antagonist stopped at the bottom of the protagonist's steps and held her up, still clutched in both enormous hands. "President Vanellope Von Schweetz, you are my best friend and nothin' is gonna change that!" he declared. She smiled her sweetest smile and let her head fall to the side. "Thanks, Stinkbrain." Ralph closed his eyes as he took a deep breath and said solemnly, "But yer still gonna wait here."

That set her off. Vanellope growled in frustration and tried to free herself from her flesh prison, threatening to throw him in a bottomless pit of chocolate. Glitching wouldn't do her any good now so she didn't attempt to. He blew in her face to subdue her and the child gagged. "I _am_ comin' back, just so you know," he chuckled over her coughs and splutters. He knocked on Felix's door (he had built a house here so Calhoun wouldn't have to try and squeeze into the apartment), ignoring Vanellope's loud protests and insults.

The handyman opened the door with a smile on his face. "Well, howdy-do, Ralph! What can I do for you this fine evening?" Ralph looked away uncomfortably as he held the girl up by her hood, her little fists swinging. "Can you watch Vanellope for me? I need to go somewhere and I don't want 'er to follow me." Ducking to avoid being clocked, the little hero quickly reached up and grabbed his charge. Concern on his face, he responded, "Sure thing, brother. Is everything alright?" Vanellope's howls of "No, it's not!" went unheard. The Bad Guy shrugged, stating honestly, "I'm not sure," and was gone.

The little man closed the door and set the now sobbing girl down. He grabbed a hanky from his pocket and dabbed at her tears. "Now, now, Sweet Pea," he said soothingly, "Why dontcha tell me what's goin' on?"


	10. Chapter 10

Ralph didn't come back 'til morning. The train pulled up with its single passenger, the bell clanging cheerfully, but he didn't get out. The wrecker had let his head fall backwards so his face was to the night sky. His knuckles were bruised and bloody. His eyes, which were closed, were rimmed with red. "What am I gonna tell them?" he moaned, tears slipping down his cheeks.

The poor guy stayed like that for a few minutes until he mentally slapped himself and got up. "C'mon, Wreck-It!" he growled. "Whatcha cryin' for, you big baby? The pity party is over!" He started off for the protagonist's house. "You don't know what's going to happen," the villain continued, "and Vanellope needs you to be strong. Scarin' yerself will only scare her more." He walked up the steps and took a deep, calming breath. "You can be strong," he muttered.

Raising a fist, he knocked gently on the door, wincing as his knuckles stung. Shouting could be heard and a strange, broken "tup, tup, tup," of little boots approaching. The door was flung open and a tiny green rocket knocked the giant to the ground. Vanellope was now sobbing into his chest and clutching his shirt like her life depended on it. Ralph lay there in stunned silence; unable to do anything more than put a hand on her for comfort.

"Vanellope! Wai-" Felix came to a screeching halt at the doorstep, Tammy right behind him. "Sugar Brat, you better get ba-" her husband jumped up to cut her off. "It's alright, Milady. Ralph's back." She looked down, saw that it was true, and sat on the top step with a scowl. "Where have you been, Junkpile?" she hissed. The Bad Guy sat up slowly, gently rocking side to side to quiet his friend. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I needed to clear my head and lost track of time. How long has she been like this?" The little man came up so he could quietly say, "All night. She insisted on waiting for you and hasn't slept a wink." Ralph gave him a doleful look. "What?!" He looked down at the girl, now sleeping in his arms. "Aw, Kid…" he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

They all sat there in silence, until Felix plucked up the courage to ask, "So… Where _did_ you go yesterday? Vanellope said you got a letter from Dr. Mario." Ralph stopped rocking, his face red as his shirt. "Yeah, I-I did. There's somethin' I need to tell ya, guys…" He sucked in a breath with a hiss when Vanellope's hand brushed against one of his abrasions. This brought Felix's attention to his foe's injuries. "Jiminy jaminy, Ralph!" he yelped, tripping over himself to get his hammer from the house. He returned and patched up his friend. "Thanks, Felix," the giant sighed. "That's much better." He nodded. "My pleasure, brother. Now, how in the world did that happen? And where were you?"

Shifting the sleeping child to one hand, Ralph rubbed the back of his neck. "After I talked to the doc I was pretty upset, so I went to a fighting game and busted up a couple o' cars." The soldier snorted in disbelief. "How many is 'a couple', Wreck-It?" His blush extended to his ears and neck. "…All of them. And all the barrels. And some jawbreakers from Vanellope's game." Felix's hand flew to his mouth, exclaiming, "Oh my land! What got your goat so bad?" The wrecker's mouth opened, but no sound came out. His courage had failed.

Thinking quickly, he said the first excuse that came to his mind. "I'd rather not say in front of Vanellope. I'll tell you after I take her home. Her little green assistant reminded me she's on the roster today." Ralph started to get up when Calhoun grabbed his shirt and snarled in his face, "We better get an answer, wrecker." He snarled right back, "Back off, lady. You will." She let him go and he lumbered to the train, careful not to jostle his precious cargo.

When he had disappeared into the tunnel, Tammy whirled on Felix. "C'mon, Fix-It. We're gonna follow him. He's not gonna hide in Tappers and weasel out of this. Not on my watch!" Her husband gulped, "Is that wise, Honey Lamb?" She didn't answer because she was running to get her cruiser. Returning and throwing it to the ground she replied, "Somethin' ain't right. He's not telling us something big, big enough to probably effect your game." She got on the board and Felix followed suit. "Keeping intel like that a secret hurts everyone." And with that, they flew off down the tunnel.

* * *

Ralph squinted until his eyes adjusted to the brightness of Sugar Rush, using his free hand to shield Vanellope. "Crud," he muttered, "I have no idea where the avatars are supposed to wait." Lacking a better idea, he made his way to the winner's circle. Fortunately, he was in luck. Taffyta and Candlehead were there, talking. Waving to catch their attention, the man approached.

"Hey, kids," he said in a low voice. "Hi, Mr. Ralph!" Candlehead chirped loudly. Ralph covered her mouth quickly, knocking her off balance. "Oops! Sorry. Look, I've got Vanellope and she's sleeping." Taffyta rolled her eyes. "Really? She's so lazy sometimes!" The grown-up shrugged his shoulders. "She had a long night. Cut 'er some slack, Pinky!" He sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't 'ave snapped atcha. Where are the avatars supposed to wait?"

"Right here!" the birthday racer whispered cheerfully. "Great, thanks." He looked around for a place to put the sleeping president. There was a candy wrapper awning nearby casting some shade on a bench that looked promising. He turned back to the two girls, "You two are on the roster, right?" Both nodded. "Good. Can I count on you to look after her? I gotta go." They nodded again. He smiled in relief. "Thanks girls. Let her sleep as long as you can." He set his bundle on the bench and turned to go. A whimper made him look back.

Vanellope was shivering. "…'mm cold," she said in her sleep. "…where's Ralph…?" His heart wrenched. He couldn't just leave her shivering like that! "Kids, got any blankets?" The pink racer shook her head. "The only things we have are some candy wrappers and they don't keep you very warm."

"They don't stay on, either!" Candlehead piped up. Ralph sat on the ground and unbuckled his overalls with an exasperated sigh. "Man, the things I do for this girl!" he griped, but his smile gave him away. He took off his top shirt, rebuckled his clasp, and wrapped the child up like a burrito, careful not to disturb her too much. Finally able to leave, the giant thanked the two racers one last time and disappeared into the tunnel to Game Central Station. The children waved at his rapidly shrinking back and exchanged glances. "What are we gonna do, Taff? How long 'til the arcade opens?" Taffyta shrugged. "I dunno. Let her sleep, I guess. We've still got an hour or so."

A happy little sigh brought their attention to their friend on the bench. "…love you…" she murmured, snuggling deeper into her make-shift blanket. "Did she say what I think she did?" Candlehead snickered. Taffyta giggled, "I think so." An idea came to her and she grinned impishly at her companion, "Hey, wanna have some fun, Candlehead?" She nodded eagerly. "Go get the others. Tell them to keep it down though. We don't want to wake her up!"

* * *

**Taffyta's and Candlehead's plan was inspired by my brother again. He and a bunch of scouts were camping and one boy was sleep talking about some girl he liked. The other boys decided to mess with him :)**


	11. Chapter 11

Ralph was letting his feet decide where to go. He found last night that even though he didn't remember where anything is his feet seemed to, so he followed their lead. He was passing an information kiosk when Felix literally dropped in on him. They crashed to the floor in a mass of limbs. "I got 'im, Tammy!" he called out over his foe's confused bellowing.

Calhoun landed the cruiser as they separated, just in time to clobber the giant. "What the _holy hotcakes_ is goin' on, Pansy?!" she barked. He didn't look at her while he tried to put his jaw back into place. "Hello to you too," he muttered under his breath. The handyman walked up and looked at him sadly. "Ralph," he said imploringly, "we just want to help you and we can't do that if we don't know what's wrong. Please, brother, what's happening to you?" Ralph looked away uneasily and tried to find a way put it delicately. Finally, he sighed, "I have a Virus."

The Fix-Its exchanged worried glances and Felix flopped to the ground, hand on his forehead. "Jiminy jaminy," he whispered. Taking a deep breath, he internally scolded himself, 'Panicking won't help anything, Fix-It, and it's certainly not gonna make Ralph feel better, so get a hold of yourself!' He picked himself back up and offered a lending hand to the villain. It wouldn't help Ralph get up but it was a nice gesture nonetheless.

"So, what kind of Virus are we dealing with, here?" he inquired as the giant got up. "Dunno," he shrugged, "The doc said he's never seen this one before." The soldier took a step forward. "What're the effects of this particular Virus, Wreck-It? That might help us prepare a bit." He turned pale, fearing her implication. "Prepare for what?"

"Anything," she said in a gentler tone, "that's why it's called 'preparing'."

The Bad Guy rubbed his face and stared at the floor. "It's erasing my memory. Probably me along with it," he said gloomily. Felix just about fainted. That pep talk he just have himself flew out the window and he panicked. "Jimimy jaminy, Ralph!" he exclaimed. "What're we gonna do? What if you die? _Are_ you gonna die? Does anything hurt? What abo-"

_Whack! _

Calhoun slapped him so hard he literally spun around and fell down again. Ralph would have laughed if things were better, but a small smile still tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Get a hold or yerself, Felix," she growled. Shaking her head in exasperation, she turned back to her other companion. "I'm not gonna sugar coat it, Wreck-It. How long do you have left?" He shrugged indifferently. "'M not sure. It all depends on the Virus. After my memories are gone I could be deleted immediately or slowly. Or not at all. Doc thinks maybe a week one way or the other so he's trying to write an antiviral program as fast as possible."

A voice over the PA system announced the arcade was opening very soon.

Tammy picked her poor husband up and kissed the angry, red mark she had left on his cheek. "I'm sorry for hittin' ya so hard, Sweetums."

"That's alright, Ma'am," he groaned. "I can fix it. And I needed that anyway." She set him down and he healed the welt. The woman allowed herself a small smile before she became stern and commanding again. "Alright, you two, get back to yer game and I'll bring Sugar Troll over when it's quitin' time. I doubt she'll want to be in a roster race today. Felix?" He stood at attention. "Don't tell the Nicelanders. Heaven knows what they'll do. And Ralph?" He grunted. "We'll find a way to deal with this. Just hold on as long you can. Now, move it!" She mounted her hoverboard and disappeared down her game's tunnel.

The two men boarded their train and were on their way. "I don't thing I've ever heard her call you by name, brother! How odd is that!" Ralph didn't answer. He was looking off to the side, a pensive look on his face. One thing was weighing heavily on his mind: Vanellope. He didn't care too much about himself, his temper tantrum last night had helped him accept his possible fate, but that girl was everything in his rapidly diminishing world. "Felix," he said as he turned back to the repairman, "promise me one thing?"

"Anything, Ralph."

"If I do bite the binary, please take care of Vanellope. She means a lot to me." The protagonist put a hand on his friend's arm and nodded seriously. "We will. You can bet yer bottom dollar on that." Ralph smiled in relief. "Thanks." He looked away again, lost in thought. A small frown appeared on his face. "Y'know? Vanellope is really important in her game, but for the life of me, I can't remember why."

* * *

The day continued on without incident. They hid Ralph's condition as best they could from everyone else in the game, not wanting to cause a panic. Ralph made sure to check on Vanellope over in Sugar Rush every chance he got. It kind of stung when she made it a point to not make eye contact with him but at least she was aware of his attention. Time seemed to drag on, and yet speed up, and suddenly it was closing time.

Ralph climbed down and waited, on edge, at the platform for Calhoun and Vanellope to arrive. Felix sat next to him on the cement. He cleared his throat timidly. "Y'know, Ralph," he said, "it's gonna be alright." Ralph grunted in acknowledgement, still staring down the tunnel. Before long, a whooshing sound could be heard, like the sound a rocket engine makes. The girls had arrived.

They burst out of the tunnel, circled overhead once, and came down softly on the grass. "What do you want, Rhonda?" Vanellope snapped. "You made it pretty clear yesterday I'm too young to know anything you geezers consider important, so spit it out so I can get back to story-time at the castle. Wouldn't wanna miss Hansel and Gretel, y'know."

He held out a hand. "Vanellope, I'm sorry about yesterday. Please c'mere. We need to have a serious talk and I'll tell you everything." She slowly came forward and climbed onto his shoulder. Ralph made sure she was set and climbed the side of the apartment to get to the roof. Vanellope numbly held on, a pit forming in her stomach. They only came up here when one or both of them needed a quiet place away from everyone. Sometimes the friends would stargaze up here after a bad day and tell silly stories with the pictures they could see or just lay there and talk, but today was obviously different. They came to the top and he heaved his heavy frame over the lip of the rooftop, laid on the edge, and placed the girl on his chest. The inky blackness of the sky seemed to press in on her and she found no comfort in the small lights above her.

"Kid," Ralph began, "there's something wrong with me."

"I coulda told ya that," she quipped. "Finally realized that breath of yours can kill?"

"Eh, you survived so I'm gonna go with 'no'."

The little president giggled in spite of her dread. The man heaved a great sigh, "Vanellope, I don't know how to put this any other way so I'm gonna be straight with you. I have a Virus." Vanellope didn't understand what he meant. Having a virus meant that he was sick and she knew that he was, but she was under the assumption that he was recovering. His cough and fever were less noticeable, anyway. Why was Stinkbrain making a big deal about something she already knew?

"Oh, is that what that fever was?" she drawled. "I thought you scared the _livin' skittles_ outta me and went to the dreaded doctor for fun! Well, I guess you learn somethin' new every day, huh, Chumbo?" The antagonist didn't rise to the bait; he had a feeling sharp comments were how the child dealt with painful situations. "No, Kid, a Virus. With a big vee." Her next comment died on her tongue. "Wha- what are you saying?"

"Something is attacking my code."

Her brain shut down, unable to process this. When she didn't say anything, the Bad Guy carefully scooped her into his hands and held her up. "You in there, Kid?" Reality crashed down on her and the racer started bawling. She cried like that, in the air suspended by her hero, for a good two minutes before he realized that between the blubbering she was saying something.

"Just like my dream!" he made out, "You're gonna die and leave me all alone!"

That floored him. What if he _did_ die? For your game to regenerate you there has to be _some_ code to work with. If the Virus was deleting his code, well… he'd better hope and pray that an antiviral could be written in time.

Ralph sat up and cradled the racer in his arms. "Shh, shh," he cooed. "I'm not gonna die, not if I can help it. Someone's writing an antiviral program to fix this. It's gonna be okay, but you can't glitch me anywhere until this Virus goes away." Vanellope hiccupped and looked up at her hero, nose running pitifully. He pulled up a corner of his shirt to dry her tears and wipe her face clean. "Besides," he went on, "Even if I do die, yer not gonna be alone. Felix and Calhoun promised to take care of you."

She pushed his hand away (because, really, how dignified is it to have someone wipe your nose for you?) and curled up next to his chest. "Hammer Man and Chuckles are great an' all, but they're not you. And I don't need to be taken care of. I can look after myself." The wrecker traced circles on her back and could feel his friend relaxing. "The point is, Kid, someone will be there for you if somethin' happens to me."

"Whatever," she muttered to low for him to hear. 'They're still not you.'

He decided it was time to put the girl to bed when her head started bobbing as she dozed. "C'mon, Sleepyhead, let's get you home." She stifled a yawn. "Can't I stay here?" Ralph shook his head. "Kid, at times like this it's important to stick to routine. You need to stay in your game tonight, but I'll tuck you in and stay 'til you're asleep. Sound fair?" She crossed her arms and scowled, "No, but that's what's gonna happen." He tousled her hair. "'Fraid so." They climbed down the side of the building and boarded the little train.

* * *

It was late when Ralph got back. Vanellope had fought sleep tooth and nail, but couldn't hold it off forever, even with the occasional explosion of a falling mento in her fixed up hideout in Diet Cola Mountain (she insisted on sleeping here. Maybe the mentos would keep her awake all night and Ralph wouldn't leave. Ralph didn't argue, forgetting that she lived in the palace). The Bad Guy also had a harder time finding his way here. He opened the door to his home and went straight to bed. The events of the day had worn him out completely so he barely had the strength to pull the covers up. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

In the night, Ralph had a nightmare. He was trapped in an hourglass and couldn't break out. A huge candy cy-bug with a bulbous head and tiny crown cackled and tapped on the glass with a claw. "I will destroy you," it sneered. The creature punctured a hole in the glass, shrunk down, and entered a cut the wrecker didn't know he had on his arm. Pain exploded in the wound and Ralph felt himself being torn apart. In the waking world the villain tossed and turned, cried out, and glitched in a burst of red light.


	12. Chapter 12

Morning came and Ralph woke with a jolt. Flashes of his nightmare came back to him as he got up and prepared for the day. Something was wrong, terribly wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It felt like something was missing. He looked out the window and saw the apartment building. He could see people moving inside. Maybe they could help him figure out what was the matter with him!

Optimistic smile on his face, the wrecker walked to the front door, grabbed the doorknob, and glitched. "Gah!" he gasped. "Has that always happened?" Ralph reached for the knob again timidly, touched it, and rapidly pulled his hand back. He didn't glitch again, so maybe that had been a one-time fluke. Shrugging, he came out of his house and took in the surroundings.

He was in a game, he knew that, but what kind of game? The apartment probably had the answer to that question. He walked up to the front door and took stock of sights and feelings. The word 'Niceland' was written above the entrance and the bricks it was made of seemed so fragile compared to him. He could remember the feeling of swinging his arms and destroying them easily enough, so maybe that's what he was supposed to do. The giant took a step up and experimentally punched a section of wall, reducing it to rubble. Yep, that seemed familiar so that must be his task in the game.

A woman poked her head out of a window above him and shrieked, "Ralph! What are you doing?! It's not time to wreck the building yet!" He backed away fearfully. "I- I'm sorry," he called up. "It just seemed like the thing to do."

"Well, wait for a quarter alert," she scolded. She disappeared back inside. "Wait!" Ralph shouted. The woman came back. "What's your name?" She shook her head and sighed. "You still have trouble with my name, huh? It's Deanna."

Deanna? That seemed familiar too. Maybe he knew her?

"How well do you know me?" he asked. "Well enough, I suppose. Why?" Ralph gulped and looked away, ashamed. It didn't seem right that he was asking her about this, but what else could he do? "Well, you see, the thing is- Oof!" Felix had barreled into him and knocked the air out of his lungs. "Ralph, friend, ol' buddy, ol' pal! Thanks for waking me up! I forgot about that thing we were supposed to do this morning so I'm glad you remembered." He looked up and waved jovially at the confused Nicelander. "And good morning to you too, Deanna!"

"G- Good morning, Felix. What were you saying, Ralph?" The giant shook his head. "I don't remember so it must not have been important." With a shrug, she was gone again.

He looked at the little man who crashed into him with a slight frown. "I know you, don't I?" he mumbled. "We're friends. I think I know that." Felix gawked at him. Had the Virus erased him from Ralph's memory? Just yesterday he was fine! What did that mean for their game? For Ralph? He gulped and laughed nervously, "Yeah, we're friends, Ralph. My name is Fix-It Felix, Jr., but you call me Felix." He became serious. "What do you remember, Ralph? Tell me everything, even if it seems trivial." Ralph screwed up his face as he thought. "Well, where do I start?"

"Start with your game. What's your name? What do you do?" He looked at the hero skeptically, but rattled off his pool of knowledge. "My name is Wreck-It Ralph. I think I'm a wrecker. Destroying that wall felt familiar." He looked up at the building behind him. "I know this is a game, but I don't know the name of it." He turned back to Felix. "Look, something is wrong with me. I feel like something is mi-i-i-i-i-issing."

Felix sprung away, alarmed by his foe's glitch. "Jiminy jaminy! Ralph, how long has that been happening?!" Ralph looked himself over. "Y'mean that's new? Huh." The hero started at him incredulously. "How can you be so calm 'bout this?! Ralph, if you're glitching, that means- Oh no! Come with me!" He dragged the villain toward the power cord tunnel. Well, he made the attempt but there was no way he going to actually move him.

They came up to the passage, stepping over the tracks, and Felix took a tentative step inside. He was able to pass through. Ralph came up and there was an electric hum as the glitch barrier was put in place. He put his hand up, dismayed. This wasn't right! He's been beyond this tunnel, he was sure of it. The wrecker despairingly slammed his fist down and was knocked back.

Something snapped inside him and he furiously tried to bring down the barricade, rebounding when he was repelled. With a roar, he struck the surface with all his might and was thrown into the river head over heels and glitching. Felix rushed over to help _somehow_, but fled when Ralph climbed up the canal with a snarl. He was seeing red now, and nothing was going to stop him. Again and again the Bad Guy collided with the electric wall and again and again he was launched into the river.

Felix bit his lip, trying to think of a way to calm his friend. He was starting to attract attention and Ralph's secret was going to be revealed soon, if it hasn't been already, if he didn't do anything. "I wish Vanellope was here!" he lamented. "She's got a knack for this kind of thing." Ding! Inspiration! Vanellope wasn't here, but _he _had_ seen_ her calm him down every now and then. "What'd she say? What'd she say?" he hissed under his breath. "Hey, Numbskull!" he called out in a falsetto, "Knock it off; yer scarin' folks!" Ralph punched the wall erratically a few more times and sank to his knees, his image flickering.

"I can't believe that worked!" The little man bolted over. "Ralph! Are you alri-" He stopped. The giant in question looked at the handyman, now being on the same level, and Felix's heart broke. Ralph looked so utterly _defeated_ and pitiful. "What's wr-r-r-rong-g-g-g with me? Did I do something to deserve this?" Tears welled up in Felix's eyes. No one deserved this, especially not Ralph. He opened his mouth to try and offer some words of comfort but was interrupted by a scream. Several Nicelanders had heard the commotion and had come over to investigate. They saw the wrecker glitching and Lucy was the first to panic, causing everyone else to lose it too.

"What're we gonna do?!" they wailed collectively. "They're gonna pull our plug for sure this time!"

Felix whipped his head back and forth, trying to calm everyone down. Fear is contagious and the people's panic was starting to get to the antagonist, but he just couldn't get a word in edgewise. Being married to Calhoun had toughened up the handyman a bit though and he had to stop this madness.

"That is _enough_!"

That stopped them short. Felix never shouted, let alone at them! "Ladies and gentlemen," he said in a strained voice, "if you would kindly zip yer lips and _listen_ for a moment, I can explain." He looked at Ralph (who was looking very much like a spooked horse) and spoke gently, "Ralph, you don't deserve this and we're going to fix it, dontchu worry." His attention came back to the tiny people behind him.

He heaved a great sigh and spoke calmly and loudly so everyone could hear, "I suppose the cat's outta the bag now, isn't it?" They chuckled uneasily. "Ralph has a Virus, and-"

"A Virus?!" someone shrilled. "Is it contagious?"

That set them off again. Felix let them scream themselves out and continued on, "I don't know if it's contagious. Let's play it safe and don't touch Ralph when he glitches. This Virus is erasing his memory so tell someone if you start forgetting more than usual. Dr. Mario is writing an antiviral program and it should be done soon." The Nicelanders calmed down a little. He wrapped up his speech. "Ralph needs our support right now. We're goin' to get through this as a game and a community! Litwak will be here soon so please get into positions."

They dispersed.

The protagonist came up to his frenemy and clapped him on the shoulder. "C'mon, big guy. We need to go too." The wrecker nodded, got up, and set off with the fixer. "Thanks," he mumbled, turning as red as his shirt. Felix smiled. "That's what friends are for."

* * *

Friday was the second busiest day of the week so Fix-It Felix, Jr. got a fair amount of attention. Ralph tried to do a good job wrecking the building. He did, but some times he was a little too good. He would get a bit too enthusiastic and the inhabitants had to get him to ease up.

The players all focused on Felix so they hardly noticed the villain's flickering, and those that did thought nothing of it. It must have been their imagination. The day was coming to a close and Felix could see Ralph glitching more and more often. "C'mon, Ralph. Just hold on for another hour," he whispered fervently. Despite his pleas, though, Ralph continued to decline. Several times his fist would go_ through_ the surface he was punching and he would get stuck. Ripping his way free would send a wave of bricks cascading down that Felix couldn't escape. Many players left in a huff, muttering about "old games being hard".

Last call was sounded and not long after the arcade was closed. Everyone in the game breathed a joint sigh of relief. The apartment had been reset to demo mode and there wasn't much for them to fix.

"Nice job, everyone!" Felix applauded. "Way to keep cool under pressure!" The people cheered and clapped, then slowly made their way home for the night. Ralph dozed on his feet on a ledge. He had been waiting for the next game to start but all that glitching wore him out and he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. Felix came up and dropped some bricks was a stony clank to wake him.

"Ralph?" Clank.

"Ralph?" Clank!

"Ralph!" _Crash_!

The villain woke with a start, looking around in a daze. "Huh? Whazgoinon?" The hero waved to get his attention and said with a smile, "The arcade is closed, brother. You look bushed so let's get you home." Ralph rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned, "I have a home?" Felix nodded, "Sure do, Ralph. C'mon, it's over this way." They walked slowly to the giant's abode, and all the way he could hear the pixilation of his friend. The repairman racked his brains for something to say but nothing seemed suitable.

They arrived at the door and he opened it. "Here we are! Get some rest, friend. I'll come get you in the morning." Ralph yawned again. "Th-th-th-thanks. Yer a good friend. What's your name?"

"Felix."

"Gotcha. I'm Ralph. Well, goodnight." He disappeared inside.

Felix took two steps and suddenly he remembered something Vanellope had told him once. He dashed back and yanked open the door. "Ralph? I forgot to tell you somethin'." The wrecker was sprawled on the couch, snoring. He woke with a snort. "Hmm? Wha?" Felix gripped his hat and said, "Vanellope said she controls her glitch by concentration. Maybe that would work for you?"

"Who's Vanellope?"

* * *

Felix walked to Sugar Rush as if he was in a daze. Vanellope was going to know something is up when she sees that Ralph wasn't with him, but should he tell her the truth? Well, maybe if she was old enough to fall in love she just might be old enough for this. She would find out one way or another, anyway.

He shielded his eyes from the bright sun and walked over to the royal box. Calhoun was already there and the girls were chatting cheerfully. Well, not so gruffly in the soldier's case. The little president saw him coming and waved, calling out, "Hey, Hammer Man! Glad you could make it! Where's Stinkbrain?" He froze, huge fake grin on his face and brain fizzling.

Vanellope was just a child! Chronologically she was almost eighteen, but physically she was nine… ish. They still had arguments about this. The point was, she was young and he wanted to protect her like a doting uncle should (Ralph filled the position of father on the rare occasion she needed one). He couldn't bring himself to hurt her, but not knowing would hurt her more…

Calhoun casually walked over and snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Time to wake up, Sweetums," she chuckled. Felix blinked. "Ah, sorry 'bout that! Busy day today. Ralph is at home, sleeping. He had both eyes in one socket the last half hour the arcade was open and I figured he needed to hit the hay. It _is_ an early day tomorrow!"

He came up and tweaked her nose. "How 'bout you come over tomorrow after closing time's race and we'll all have a game night? I need to teach you cribbage, don't I?"

"And scum!" she chirped.

"Sounds great," he chortled. "Now, go race your heart out!"

Doubt crossed her face, but it was too fast for him too see. Beaming, Vanellope skipped over to the announcer's podium. The Fix-Its took their seats and wife glowered at husband knowingly. "What's really goin' on, Felix?" she muttered darkly. He gulped, stammering, "Ralph _can't_ leave the game. He's a glitch now. And… and…"

"And what?!"

"And he doesn't remember us anymore."

* * *

Taffyta, Candlehead, Rancis, Jubileena and Minty all huddled together behind one of the stands. The other four racers had gone to the starting line up to inconspicuously stall for time. "Alright, so we all know what we saw today, right?" Taffyta asked urgently. They nodded. "The ten coin question is: do we tell the president?" Jubileena interjected. They all stared at the ground glumly. They had thought about it all day and still didn't know the answer.

"Y'know?" Rancis began, "That Fix-It guy she hangs around with is from the same game so he'll probably tell her!" The racers breathed a sigh of relief. None of them wanted to be the bearer of_ that_ bad news.

A thought came to Candlehead. "Vanellope's been disappearing and spending a lot of time over there this week, so she hasn't been on the roster. She's racing today and…"

"And what if she sees him tomorrow? She's always waving at him." Minty concluded. "What if she leaves during game hours?" The children had a shared mini panic attack until Taffyta came to her senses and hissed, "Shush! Someone will hear!" The lollipop racer was suddenly seized with a plan and she didn't like it.

"There's only one thing to do," she sighed, already hating herself, "We'll have to block her from getting on the roster."

The candy children argued back and forth about the merits of this plan and how to accomplish it so were unaware of the figure sneaking up on them.

"Have some candy!"

A particularly naughty teddy graham cub had heard the hubbub and came poking about. They were _just asking_ for a prank so he obliged by pelting them with assorted tiny sweets. Jubileena chased him off while the others recovered. "My hair!" Rancis wailed. "I'll never get this candy out before the race!" Sure enough, his blonde locks were encrusted with sprinkles, just like-

"That's it!" Taffyta shrieked gleefully. "Candlehead, Jubileena, Minty, get the other girls to my house later tonight. Operation: Razzles is a go!"

* * *

** 'Both eyes in one socket' is how my family says 'I'm so freakin' tired I can't keep my eyes open!' I have no idea who started it but it's kind of fun to say :)**


	13. Chapter 13

Saturday didn't dawn. It pulled a blanket of black rain clouds over is head and tried going back to sleep with a thunderous snore. The sun could shine all it wanted but Saturday wasn't removing that blanket for anything.

Felix opened one eye and listened to the rumbling sky with mixed emotions. The rain meant not many kids would come in today so Ralph could take it easy, and he was glad for that, but at the same time he was upset that Ralph_ had_ to take it easy. The handyman looked at his clock, saw he had some time, and snuggled closer to his beloved.

"Good mornin', Short Stack," she yawned.

"Good morning, Milady. I'm sorry to wake you."

She arched her back like a cat and put her arms around him. "You didn't. I was kinda up anyway." They stayed like that, happily pretending time had stopped, until the alarm blared and proved that it hadn't. Reluctantly they got up and prepared for the day. Sarge came downstairs while Felix was fixing breakfast and noticed that he was packing everything up like a picnic. "I hope you don't mind eating breakfast at Ralph's place this morning, Honey Lamb? I just wanna make sure he's alright."

She smiled and batted his hat bill down. "That's fine. Lemme pack up so I can leave from there."

Fifteen minutes later they knocked on the wrecker's door but there was no answer. Pushing away all dark thoughts, the little hero knocked again and entered. "Ralph? You in here?" Ralph wasn't on the couch. Maybe he made it to bed? The couple checked the rest of the empty dwelling before coming to the back bedroom. There was a Bad Guy sized hole in the wall and a trail of footprints leading into the woods. Tamora's instincts kicked in and she threw down her hoverboard. "C'mon, Fix-It. This can't be good so let's go find the idiot before he hurts himself." They climbed on and rose into the air to make slow passes over the trees.

The world of Fix-It Felix, Jr. really wasn't that big; Ralph couldn't have gone far. Felix spotted a patch of red amongst the greenery in the very topmost corner of the boundary. "There! I see 'im, Tammy!"

They came down and could see right away that Ralph was in bad shape. He was curled up in a tight ball but that didn't hide all the cuts and scrapes on his arms. Somehow, his wild hair looked even more disheveled and Felix could see twigs tangled up in it. His breathing was pretty shallow and ragged, as if he had been running all night. The red, puffy bags around his closed eyes told them he had been crying. Even though he was nine feet tall and weighed 643 pounds, Ralph looked like a little boy who had lost his way.

He glitched violently and woke with a pained gasp. "Nngh! N-n-n-no-o-o-o, no! Stay back!" He swung his arm in a frantic backhand motion and hit air.

Felix, being the closest, had jumped up and dodged the blow. "Ralph, it's okay! We're not gonna hurt you!" Ralph didn't seem to hear. He was staring through the two of them in wide-eyed horror and trying to back farther into the boundary corner. Calhoun pulled out a pistol and checked the surroundings. "I don't see anything, Felix. We hafta calm him down!" He yelped, "Right!" and threw himself at Ralph's chest, holding on for dear life. The giant struggled to pry him off and the woman used the distraction to make her move. She dropped to her knees in front of him and her hands shot out in a lightning fast strike. "Tammy, don't hu- oh."

She had cupped the villain's cheeks and turned his face towards her. She could be gentle when she wanted to and being gentle is the best way to calm someone. "It's alright," she murmured. "We're your friends and you're safe now. Take a deep breath."

The panic in his eyes slowly disappeared; he blinked, and looked at her as if for the first time. "Who are you?" he croaked. "I'm Fix-It Felix, Jr.," the hero said as he relinquished his grip, "and this is my wife, Tamora." He sat next to her. "We really are your friends, Ralph" Ralph stared them in confusion. "Ralph?" he asked, "Is that my name?" Felix glanced briefly and fearfully at Tammy and nodded, unable to speak. "What were you running from, Wreck-It?" the soldier pressed. He surveyed the area as if expecting something big to happen and whispered, "A monster."

* * *

Something wasn't right. Vanellope could feel it in her code that something was dreadfully wrong and it probably concerned Ralph. Felix hadn't fooled her for a second yesterday but he had left so fast after the race she didn't have a chance to confront him. To make it worse, all the other racers kept staring at her and whispering to each other. Someone was _always_ tailing her, too. The arcade was opening soon and the little president was going to get to the bottom of this.

She ambushed the racer currently following her: poor Candlehead! "Alright, Cupcake," she growled, "what the fudge-pop is going on?" The birthday racer pusher her assailant off and sat up. "Good morning to you too, Vanellope," she deadpanned. "What are you talking about?" The first girl crossed her arms and said sternly, "You know what! Why is everyone whispering and following me around?" The second girl gulped.

'Remember what Taffyta said,' she coached herself. 'Keep it simple.' She got up and pulled Vanellope up too. "Well, something seems to be bothering you and we're trying to figure out what it is so we can help you."

Vanellope felt extremely guilty. These were her friends, her citizens, and she was so wrapped up in her little soap opera she had forgotten them! "I'm sorry, Candlehead. Ralph is sick and it's… kinda scarin' the nougat outta me. He means the world to me and if something happened to him… I don't know what I'd do!" The green-haired girl hugged her friend wordlessly. 'I guess we're all going to find out soon enough.' The dirty-haired brat broke the embrace and smiled warmly. "Thanks, Wax Drip. I feel better."

They walked off to the winner's circle to await the start of the day. "Y'know?" Vanellope mused, "This still doesn't explain why Taffyta threw the roster race yesterday. What's up with her?" Candlehead laughed loudly, maybe too loudly. "Taffyta threw the race so she would have more time to put together a sweet slumber party. We all thought a girls' night would cheer you up!"

Taffyta was doing no such thing. She was currently wandering through the halls of the castle, trying to find Vanellope's room. As she rounded a corner she bumped into something. "Watch it!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here, Miss Muttonfudge?" a dull voice droned. Great. She had come face to face with none other than Sour Bill. Wait! This could work for her! "Sorry, Bill," she said, trying to be as charming as possible, "I didn't see you! I'm looking for Vanellope's room. She, uh… forgot something! Yeah, and I'm getting it for her."

He saw right through her. "Why are you really here? You're not trying to prank the president, are you?" The pink racer crossed and uncrossed her arms rapidly in front of her. "No! Nothing like that! I'm trying to help her." She told him the plan. Sour Bill nodded and motioned for her to follow. "Thank you for looking out for her," he hummed. "Her room is this way." He opened the door to the president's spacious living quarters.

Taffyta immediately noticed that the room seemed quite empty. There was an angel food cake with fondant covers and buttermint pillows in the corner next to the door and a chocolate wardrobe adjacent to it, but not much else. She didn't know it but Vanellope had orientated her room to be like her hideout, plus she didn't need all this space. Living on the run and in hiding for fifteen years had squashed any desire for possessions she couldn't carry or rebuild.

The visitor crossed over to the wardrobe and glanced at the bed (she couldn't help it) and snickered. There was Ralph's shirt, like a big plaid security blanket, and a candy wrapper doll sitting in front of the pillows. Vanellope may act so grown up, but it was kind of comforting to see that she still had a childish side. Getting back to the task at hand, she began riffling through her leader's clothes.


	14. Chapter 14

Saturday turned out to be a very miserable day. The dark sky and pouring rain kept most gamers at home, but some still bravely stepped over the threshold, sopping wet and a roll of quarters burning a hole in their pocket.

Sugar Rush was played quite often (maybe the players were trying to get some vicarious sunshine) and Vanellope was picked to play as their avatar more often than not. At the end of each race she would steal glances over at Ralph's game and every time she was filled with dread. No one was there! There were no resident Airheads running around, no Hammer Man fixing anything, and no Stinkbrain wrecking the place. There was_ always_ something happening on the screen but it was a ghost town now. Well, there was no 'out of order' sign so maybe there was still some hope.

* * *

The Fix-It Felix, Jr. inhabitants were having a meeting in Felix's living room. Ugg was playing look-out so they could devote their full attention to the situation at hand: Ralph's loss of memories. Gene currently had the floor. He still didn't like Ralph much, but this time it wasn't his fault they were in danger so was being courteous (mostly).

"So, to clarify, Ralph has little to no memory left and is literally coming apart at the seams? What do we do, Felix? Have you tried hitting him with your hammer?" Felix shook his head. "My hammer doesn't fix illnessess, Gene. I might be able to fix his code but I'm afraid of resetting him completely. I will risk it if I have to, though." The mayor nodded. "Where is he now?"

"He's at his house with Tammy. She volunteered to stay with him since Hero's Duty is down for repairs. Someone stuck gum in the quarter slots this morning! Those little rapscallions…" Mary stood up. "How long until the antivi-" She froze; they all did. There was a quarter alert and they had to get moving. Everyone jumped with Ugg started kicking at the door to signal a player was here. The people rushed outside and Felix made a break for the villain's home. "Wait, Felix!" Gene came up behind him. "Does he remember how to wreck the building?"

"I'm not sure," the hero said distractedly, "but we'll help him all we can."

* * *

The player had never experienced this old game before. It looked fun enough. The cut scene ended and the wrecking guy came out.

Wait… was he just _pushed_ out? Weird.

A speech bubble appeared over his head and he looked up at it in surprise. He couldn't be sure, but the boy thought he heard the wrecker say "Um… grr?" He reluctantly came forward and climbed the building. Again, the boy thought he heard the game talking because the wrecker seemed to hiss "Now what?" and someone hissed back "Smash the building!" Shrugging, he complied and little people poked their heads out of their windows, crying out for help. A little man in blue came up and said breathlessly, "I can fix it!" That signaled the beginning of the escapade.

It wasn't long before the child knew there was something wrong with the game. He had cleared three screens and moved up the building, but nothing happened after he cleared the fourth. The wrecking guy had stopped moving, freezing in a half cocked punch. He clearly heard someone shout "Ralph, MOVE!" and that's when it hit the fan. The villain was glitching all over the screen and there was a choppy scream.

"Mr. Litwak!"

The boy unwittingly condemned them. Mr. Litwak came over to investigate and his heart sank a little. "I thought this game was past all this," he muttered sadly. The boy explained what had happened and Fix-It Felix, Jr. was put out of order. Vanellope had just won another race so she saw the whole exchange and her face went white as powdered sugar.

As soon as her player was gone she rushed blindly to her kart, deaf to the shouts and pleas of the other racers. The kid blocked the screen so she couldn't see, but Ralph was hurt, she was sure of it. He might even be dead. That thought just about killed her. Without Ralph, she was incomplete. He was her first and best friend, her partner in crime, and, though he didn't know it, her other half of life's cookie sandwich. She had to make sure he knew before it was too late!

In her panicked frenzy she failed to notice the large pink kart blocking her way out and she glitched to keep from crashing and spun out on her rerendering.

"Vanellope! Wait!" It was Taffyta, come to stop her.

"Get outta my way, Taffyta! I have to get to Ralph!" Taffyta came over, grabbed her by the collar of her hoodie, and hauled her out of the vehicle. "No, you need to calm down and think straight! I'm not letting you leave like this." Vanellope wrestled with her captor, trying to throw her off, but was unable to. She started to cry and Taffyta slapped her cheeks. "Don't go breakin' down on me, 'Nilla Waif! Is this how a leader's supposed to act?" The vanilla racer took some gulping breaths and sat up slowly. "What if I don't want to be the leader, huh?" she sobbed. "I didn't choose this. I quit!" The lollipop racer slapped her again. "Vanellope, you didn't choose to be the princess but you did choose to be the president. You can't quit. We need you to be here for us."

She gestured behind her. "You're on the roster and the players' favorite for crying out loud! Leaving now, like this, will put _us_ out of order too! Did you think of that?!" Vanellope looked away, ashamed. Ralph had fought for her and her game, almost dying in the process. If she got her game unplugged she'd have to be very ungrateful and she would never be able to live with herself.

She picked herself up, defeated. "Thanks for the reality shot, Taffyta. You're right: I can't leave." She trudged back to her kart, only to be yanked backwards into a hug. Unable to hold in her pain anymore, the president sobbed into her friend's shoulder. Taffyta held her for a few seconds and then held her back at arms' length. "You're our president, you and no one else, but you're also our friend. Take_ my_ kart and drive as fast as you can. We know you love him and we'll be okay without you for a little while." Vanellope's brain short circuited and she blushed all the way down to her toes. "What are you- How did- I don't- HUH?!" she stammered.

The girl smiled. "You sleep talk," she winked, "Now, switch me karts and get going! Come back soon, though." Vanellope truly looked at her companion and did a double take. Taffyta was dressed like her! She had on a mint green hoodie, double wrapper skirt, stripped leggings and boots. The only thing wrong with the picture was that she was still blonde. She looked over to the Pink Lightning and could see an improvised wig made of black twizzlers lying on the hood.

Comprehension came over her face and she joyfully kissed the air next to the other girl's cheek. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She hugged the girl tightly, ran over to the pink lollipop kart, and hopped in while Taffyta grabbed the wig. "I'll be back for sure!" With that, she shot down the power cord.

The disguised girl jumped into the other racing car and drove back to the winner's circle. Candlehead waved and pulled up beside her. "Hiya, Taffyta! Everything go okay?" She nodded. "Yep. All we have to do now is hope the players don't catch on!"

* * *

Vanellope drove Pink Lightning as fast as she could. It was a little hard to handle, being bigger than her kart, but she wasn't the arcade's best racer for nothing! She blew past the Surge Protector's security check and zoomed towards Niceland. "Vanellope Von Schweetz!" she shouted over the roar of the engine, "Going to save a friend!" The girl disappeared down the tunnel.

* * *

**There you have it: Operation Razzles! Razzles are a candy that starts out as a Bottle Cap lookin' thing and turns into gum when you chew it :)**

**So... I'm going to be rediculously busy tomorrow. Rather than wait 'til 7 PM ish my time to post a new chapter, I thought it would be better to post an extra one early. This means that the next update won't be 'til Saturday morning, but Saturday for sure!**


	15. Chapter 15

Niceland was cast in an unsettling orange glow from the sign over the screen. The tiny people were running amok, completely inconsolable. Felix had left them to their own devices to stand behind his wife on her cruiser and try to talk to Ralph. The villain's initial glitch had ended and he was now hugging himself tightly, as if to hold his body together.

"C'mon, Ralph," Felix wheedled, "jump down. You'll be fine. Trust me!" The giant shook his head. Or, Felix thought he did. He was flickering every so often so it was kind of hard to tell. "You don't understand! It's too far. I'll die! Who are you people, anyway?" Calhoun pulled the hoverboard closer. "We're your friends, Wreck-It. I'm not asking you to just jump. I want you to hold on to my board so we can control your fall."

They argued back and forth until a dull roar broke through their train of thought. It was coming from the power cord and it was getting louder. A streak of pink came barreling out, crossed the bridge, and glitched through the crowd of Nicelanders to stop at the base of the apartment. A small girl got out and looked around frantically. The Fix-Its called out "Vanellope!" and she looked up.

Ice ran through her veins and she wailed, "Ralph!"

Vanellope climbed the fire escape and ran along the edge to her hero. The little man jumped over and put out his hands to stop her. "Vanellope, don't touch hi-"

Flash!

She glitched behind him. The girl appeared about two feet in front of her target, but unfortunately she was a little too far to the right. She toppled over the side with a surprised yelp. Before Tammy had a chance to make a grab for her, Ralph had already thrown himself off the ledge and snagged her. "Catch!" he yelled, throwing her straight up like a baseball. He smiled when the scary lady snatched her out of the air. Ralph couldn't explain why he had saved her; he felt compelled to and he would do it again willingly.

He landed with a sickening crunch on the pink candy kart, gasping for air like a fish. The group landed the cruiser and Vanellope ran over to her beloved. "Ralph! Ralph, speak to me! Tell me you're okay, Stinkbrain!" He groaned as he got up. "Ow," he wheezed.

Shedding tears of joy, the child threw herself at him and latched onto his arm. The man held his other arm up in awkward alarm, not sure what to do.

He was lowering his limb when he felt it: something was coming. Something bad and it was going to hurt. He looked desperately at the little man and tall woman in front of him. "Take her home, please. Now!" He gestured to the girl. Felix gulped and stammered, "Why?" The giant held out his arm and with his free hand clutched his ribs. "Just do it!" The handyman grabbed the now struggling Vanellope and backed up. Ralph continued in a strained voice, "I'm beggin' you, take her home before-"

It came.

Ralph's image started to break apart in a massive red glitch and he screamed. Vanellope couldn't breathe and she froze. This explained everything. Felix's odd behavior yesterday, Ralph's absence, why no one was on the screen this morning… Felix was equally paralyzed. He was unable to tear his gaze away from the terrible sight in front of him. Tamora was able to think through the fear and grabbed the little racer. "Fix it, Felix!" she shouted, trying to get her husband to respond. He looked at her in wild-eyed panic for a second then, as if someone had flipped a switch, he nodded and ran to the Nicelanders standing in a huddle. "Gene, Roy, Norwood, come with me, fellas! I can fix it!"

The four men ran to the hidden code vault door and pushed. The brick wall opened and they fell in. Felix scrambled up and hurriedly punched in the combo. "Stay here, guys," he said as the portal opened. It wasn't even halfway open before he ducked under and swam through the darkness. An eerie red glow told him where to go. "Jiminy jaminy…!" he gasped. Ralph's data file was a bright, bright red and winking in and out of existence, taking longer to rematerialize after its dissipation.

The little hero pulled his hammer out of his tool belt and gripped it tightly. "Please forgive me, Vanellope," he whispered. He raised the hammer up with grim determination, shouted almost defiantly "I can fix it!" and struck the file. Light spread out from the contact point and a gong seemed to ring. The file stabilized and turned a dark red color; the color it was supposed to be. He stayed there for a few minutes to make sure everything was okay. The wrecker's file never flickered and the hue stayed the same. Maybe, just maybe, Ralph was in the clear.

He backstroked out of the well and closed the door once he was out. The other men rushed over to him and barraged him with questions. Felix held up his hands and smiled weakly, saying, "Now, I'm not sure Ralph is out of the woods yet, but his code seems to have stabilized so I'm hoping everything is okay." They exited and Felix silently vowed to come back tomorrow and double check everything. They heard crying and the repairman's stomach dropped out. Crying usually meant something was wrong. "Tammy! Vanellope!" he shouted, hopping as fast as he could.

He came around the corner and stopped in front of the girls. The woman was kneeling on the ground and had her arm around the child who was sobbing her heart out. "What? What happened? What's-" Vanellope pointed to the wreckage of the kart. Ralph was gone. Felix fell to his own knees, his mouth in a surprised "O". Finally, he exclaimed, "This isn't right. I fixed him! His code is still there! That means he's gotta be somewhe-"

A long forgotten memory surfaced: that of the first time he saw Ralph. Ralph hadn't come from the apartment like the Nicelanders or a point just beyond the edge of the world like he did; no, Ralph had emerged from somewhere else, as he did at the start of every game.

Felix dashed over to the lonely stump in the dump and saw the most beautiful sight in all his life (except for Tammy, of course): a digital bubble that said "rebooting" and a countdown timer. As an added bonus, he could hear snoring coming from the inside of the stump. "Good golly, Miss Molly!" the handyman cheered. "He's alright!" He ran back to the now confused girls shouting joyfully "He's okay, he's okay!"

Vanellope's whole countenance changed. Her worries gone, she seemed light enough to float and she squealed exuberantly. Suddenly Calhoun had a giggling tween wrapping her arms around her middle, which startled her, but she returned the hug warmly. Felix hopped over and enveloped them in a group hug and happy tears fell like rain. The Nicelanders stampeded over cheering, slapping the protagonist on the back, and patting themselves and the visiting girls on the shoulder. Even Gene looked relieved. After a few minutes the apartment dwellers retired to their homes to enjoy an extra day off.

Vanellope disentangled herself from her friends' embrace and wiped her tears away with her hoodie sleeve. "So, where is Ralph? Can I see him?" The protagonist tousled her hair, sighing, "There's nothin' to see right now, Sweet Pea. Ralph's rebooting in his stump and only he can get in and out of it." He chuckled, "Though how he does it, I haven't the foggiest!" Tammy frowned. "I don't like the sound of that. How do we know he'll remember us again or if this is a total reset?" The racer turned pale, squeaking, "Wait, he _forgot_ us? Even _me_?" The couple exchanged glances. "'Fraid so, Kiddo." Calhoun murmured.

She was devastated. "I never got to tell him…" she whispered, too tired and heartbroken to cry. The soldier put a finger up to her mouth to signal her husband she would take care of this. "Tell him what, Pint-Size? And what're you doin' here during arcade hours, anyway?" Vanellope's face grew hot and she glared at the woman. "None of your beeswax, Trigger Happy! What are _you_ doin' here?" Tamora crossed her arms and growled, "My game is down, just like yours probably is! Do you have _any_ idea what you've done?! What could be so important that you would endanger your game and-"

"My game is fine!" Vanellope screeched. "Taffyta took my place so I could be here! I had to tell Ralph I l-" She clamped her hands over her mouth, blushing furiously.

'Oh, this is going to be fun!' Sarge thought, grinning like a cat with a bird in sight. "You had to tell him what, now? That you love him, Princess?"

"No!" the girl denied loudly.

"Are you sure? You've got the honeyglows somethin' awful!"

She couldn't take it anymore. Being treated like a child, called a princess, _and_ mocked were more than she could stand, so Vanellope ran. She ran the opposite way, not caring where she went and angry tears stinging her eyes. Her wild emotions were causing her to glitch and stumble but she would pick herself up and continue her desperate escape. Felix called out to her but she either didn't hear or didn't care.

"That wasn't very nice, dear!" he scolded. Calhoun snickered, "No, but it was fun. And she needed to be punished for goin' Turbo." She got up and brushed herself off. "It also confirmed somethin' for me," she said seriously. "She's made her choice about her feelings." Felix gasped, not sure if he should be delighted or worried. She turned to her own true love, asking, "How long 'til Junkpile is back online?"

"T- tomorrow afternoon if that timer is right." He heard a grunt of confirmation and watched his wife walk in the direction the child had gone. "What are you going to do, Milady?"

"Have a little chat with her and get her home. Think you can have that kart fixed by the time we get back?" He smiled as he tossed his magic tool up and caught it again. "Can do," he drawled confidently.

* * *

Vanellope had glitched herself up into one of the blocky 8-bit trees in the woods and sat on a branch, crying. Life just appeared to be against her! Sugar Rush tied her down like a ball and chain, Felix was hiding stuff from her, and Calhoun was making fun of her…! "It's not fair!" she sobbed.

Suddenly, the branch she was on tilted down and she slid out of the tree with a squeak into someone's arms. Ralph loved doing this when she had her guard down.

"Go away, Ral-"

"Nope. Try again, Shorty."

Oh. Right. Who knew if Ralph would remember her, let alone when he'd be awake? She teleported back into the tree and held on to the branch. "What do you want, Chuckles?" she growled. "Come to laugh more?" Tammy smirked but held her hands up in surrender. "Not today, Vanellope. We need to get you back to your game so we can have a talk after the races." The girl looked away in a huff, snorting, "And if I refuse?"

"Well, if you're going to play the 'kiddie' card I guess I won't get the chance to have a woman-to-woman chat with you after all. Too bad." She turned on her heels and started to leave. "Grown-up talks go right over your little head anyway, right? My mistake. Maybe in another ten years…" She heard a rustle and tiny footsteps behind her and knew she was being followed. Calhoun smiled but didn't turn around, saying, "Swallowing your pride is a very mature thing to do, Cake Pop. I think we might be able to have that talk after all."

"Why do you care if I'm mature or not? And what's this 'talk' about anyway?"

"Love is a battlefield and a grown-up emotion. I just wanna make sure you're ready and prepared, Vanellope."


	16. Chapter 16

Felix sat alone at the bar in Root Beer Tapper after the arcade closed, enjoying the rare occasion of solitude. Tammy was having a serious girl talk with Vanellope and Ralph was otherwise occupied, which left him all by his lonesome. That was alright with him; even the most social person likes a little "me time".

It was unusually empty for a Saturday. Perhaps the slow day hadn't pushed the other arcade characters hard enough to need a pick-me-up. Tapper came over to chat after topping off the glasses of the other customers. "How ya doin', Felix? Is everything okay with Ralph?" The handyman sighed, "I'm not sure, Tapper, but I think so."

"I heard when Litwak put the out of order sign up on your game. Good thing he's not comin' in tomorrow to pull your plug! What happened, if you don't mind me askin'?" Felix told the barman of Ralph's Virus, how it had been destroying him, and the events that led to his reset. Tapper's eyes grew larger and larger in shock. "Sake's alive! That's quite the tale. Here's hopin' it all comes out fine in the end."

"I'll drink to that!" Felix raised his mug up and took another sip. The soda-jerk smiled and absentmindedly wiped down the countertop. "How's that little girl holdin' out? Whatshername… Penelope?"

"Vanellope. I dunno, Tapper. She was hit pretty hard today. She and Ralph are pretty close."

"Heh, heh, thick as thieves, those two," Tapper chuckled. Felix nodded, saying offhandedly, "And it's worse since she's in l- Oh, _fiddlesticks_!" He held a hand in front of his mouth and flushed in embarrassment. "I think I've said a little too much…" The barman waved him off. "Eh, not to worry. Secrets don't go beyond me. I kinda figured that was the case, anyway."

"How did you know?"

He chuckled. "When you've serving drinks as long as I have you see a lot. I've seen many people in love and she definitely has the look." The fixer smiled into his mug, "Thanks for keepin' this under yer hat, Tapper." He became serious. "Tapper, if you don't mind me askin': how well do you know Ralph?"

"I like to think he's a very good friend o' mine. Why?"

"Tammy made the very good point that love is a two way street and…"

"And you wanna know if I know how the big guy feels, huh?" the barkeep chuckled. The repairman sheepishly nodded. Tapper grabbed a nearby mug and polished it while he collected his thoughts. "It's kinda hard to tell with Wreck-It Ralph," he began. "That guy has hiding his true feelings down to a science. Y'know, anything that's _not_ his usual temper!" They both laughed. "But that little girl has gotten him outta his shell a bit. I can see that he really cares for her, I'm just not sure if he knows_ how_ he cares."

"Whadaya mean?"

"I mean he can't decide if he wants to care for her like a father cares for his daughter or like a guy cares for a girl. He frets over her like a mother hen over her chicks, and at the same time there's a light in his eyes when he's alone in here and thinks no one's lookin'. I never saw that until after he had met Vanellope."

Felix giggled and sighed like the romantic he was. "I wonder why Ralph has never said anything. He's a little more upfront about his feelings n-"

"Tapper, we need a refill over here!"

The barkeep turned to acknowledge the request, told the other little man to wait, and scurried off. Felix was nursing his soda when he heard someone clear their throat. He looked around and noticed Sour Bill at the foot of his stool. "Well, howdy, Bill!" he grinned as he slid down to the floor. "What can I do for ya?"

"Your wife asked me to tell you that she will be spending the night in Sugar Rush so don't wait up," the candy man said gloomily. The superintendent tipped his hat, thanked him, and invited him to get a drink. "Thank you, bu- Whoawhoawhoa!" Felix had happily hoisted the steward onto a stool. "One more mug over here please!" he waved at Tapper.

Tapper came back over, frosty mug of root beer in hand. "Here ya go, little guy. Who's yer friend, Felix?" The man slapped his reluctant companion on the back, saying, "This is Sour Bill. He's Vanellope's advisor and castle steward."

"Hello," he droned.

The soda-jerk nodded and wiped down the counter again. "Advisor, huh? Maybe you can convince her to let me draw her caricature. I haven't added a new one in a while and she's cute as a button. Silly girl won't hold still, though!" Felix gaped at him. "I didn't know you drew those, Tapper! Or at all, actually! Isn't it hard when your motion is limited?"

Tapper guffawed, "Speak fer yerself! You're older than I am and you don't move like an 8-bit game all the time, now do ya?" He reached into his back pocket for a pen and quickly sketched Sour Bill. His hand moved smoothly in perfect circles. He flipped the drawing to them and laughed at their stunned faces. "How did you do that?" Bill asked dully, "I thought the movement a character was programmed with was the only motion they had." Comprehension crossed Felix's face. "You learned, didn't you?" Tapper smiled. "Sure did," he agreed. Sour Bill was confused. "Learned what?"

"It's a long story. You got time, Billy?"

Bristling at the informal nickname, he nodded. The barman looked around to see how his other customers were doing and was that the bar was empty. "Well, blow me down; I think I hear opportunity knockin' at the door!" He scurried off again and put a "closed" sign in the hall leading to and from the power cord. "Sorry 'bout that," he said on his return, "Slow nights like tonight I like to close up a bit early. Doesn't happen too often, y'know."

He came over to their end of the bar and pulled up his own stool. "You're right, Bill," he began, "characters are programmed with a certain motion, but it's possible to go beyond the limitation. It's kind of like learnin' a new skill: lost of practice and a certain amount of talent." He smiled softly as he reminisced. "I had been plugged in for a few years and it was pretty boring staring at the same four walls, lemme tell ya! I wanted to spruce the place up, at least where players couldn't see, but I didn't know what to do. Then, one day, a kid played my game and I got a quick glance at his shirt. He had a picture of a wanted poster on it and BOOM! There's my great idea! I could draw people's pictures and hang 'em up."

"What does this have to do with learning how to move differently?" the sour ball interrupted. "I'm gettin' to that part," Tapper scolded.

"Anyway, I tried it, but because I'm an 8-bit character I could only move in a square fashion. All my drawings came out blocky, and that's not what I wanted." He chuckled. "It was actually Ralph who got me into learning a whole new way of moving in the end! He had had one drink too many and got into a fist fight with a guy from Street Fighter I. He was holdin' his own well enough, but that fighter was slippery! His video-card had a higher rendering so he was able to move in the diagonal direction. Ralph gets his lights knocked out so Retsu and his buddies drag him outside to take 'im home. He musta known Ralph wasn't so bad, just had a bad day. Retsu was a Bad Guy himself in story mode."

Felix winced at this. He still felt immensely guilty about neglecting Ralph for so long. Tapper either didn't notice or didn't acknowledge this.

"So the next night Ralph comes in and goes right over to that kempo master. Imagine everyone's surprise when he apologizes for the night before!" The soda-jerk smiled. "Long story short they became pretty good friends and Ralph started learning some fightin' moves to channel his temper. He came in one day and I immediately noticed he was moving a lot smoother than he used to. Dunno _how_ it happened, but_ somehow_ he had learned to move like the guys from Street Fighter! I figured this might be the answer to my drawing problem so I picked up a few moves too."

He playfully punched the air above their heads. "Punches came pretty easy but I could never get the kicks right. I also gotta concentrate when I wanna draw smoothly. Ralph has the natural talent to move like that all the time, I suppose." His face became downcast. "It broke the big guy's heart when Street Fighter was unplugged, but that poor cabinet could only take so many spilled sodas. I'm glad he's got a close friend again after all these years."

Felix nodded. "I'm glad they're friends too. That's why we're tryin' to find a way for them to be together so they at least have the option. Tammy wants to manipulate Vanellope's code but I'd be lyin' if I said that doesn't make me a Nervous Nelly."

"Isn't that going Turbo?" Sour Bill asked suspiciously. Felix nodded again, sighing, "That's the crux of the matter. On one hand, we want to find a way to make Vanellope older without disrupting the game, but on the other, does the end justify the means? Tammy doesn't wanna give her false hope or I'd ask her permission myself."

They sat there in silence, lost in thought. "Seems to me," Tapper slowly said, "that you need to make a new skin for her. A new costume, if you will." The repairman shrugged and ran his thumb along the edge of his hammer. "I dunno. That seems like it'd only work in game-play. Would it work after-hours?"

"It might if you add it as a final character design instead," Sour Bill helped. "That's brilliant!" the two little men shouted excitedly. "How do you do that?" The candy man shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't know anything about code manipulation. There has to be a way to upload an image directly to Vanellope's design." Felix's eyes shone. "I think I saw a file marked 'character design' when I was lookin' at Ralph's code the other day. I betcha she's got one too!" They talked late into the night about the benefits of this plan and how to accomplish it while keeping it secret.

Finally, around 1 A.M., Felix yawned mightily and looked out into the arcade at the clock on the wall. "Jiminy jaminy, fellas!" he cried, "It's awfully late! I'm afraid I'm gonna hafta call it a night." He slid off his seat and tipped his hat. "I really appreciate yer help with this and I'm sure Tammy would too. I'll bring her back here with me tomorrow and we can get this ball rollin'. G'night, gentlemen!"

Sanguine smile still glued to his face, the hero in blue departed to join his beloved in Sugar Rush. Vanellope might also welcome the extra company.


	17. Chapter 17

Felix and Calhoun entered Root Beer Tapper the next morning. Sour Bill had arrived a few minutes before them and was making small talk with the proprietor. Tapper didn't open the bar until the afternoon so it was completely empty. "Golly, Tapper, we really appreciate you doing this on your day off!" the small hero beamed. The barman waved him off, proclaiming, "It's my pleasure, really!" Calhoun rolled her eyes. "Enough teaparty chatter already. What's this all about, you three?"

They filled her in on their discussion from last night. She nodded, clearly impressed. "That's a great plan," she admitted, "but what am I doin' here?" The handyman got a bad case of the honeyglows and gushed, "We need you to be a model, Milady, if you don't mind." The soldier stared at him incredulously and shouted, "Say WHAT?!" Tapper and Sour Bill cringed but Felix smiled and patted her hand. "Think about it, Honey Lamb," he soothed, "This is for Vanellope. Tapper will have an easier time creating a new skin for her if he has someone to model for him and there aren't too many adult human women in the arcade that we're friend with. He's just gonna copy your basic shape and fill it in with Vanellope's features. Easy as pie!"

Tamora scowled at him, blushing furiously. While his face became serious, the repairman smiled on the inside. "Tamora, as your husband, I order you to sit down and let Tapper work! You will also not smile until he is finished. Not a grin, not a smirk, not even a- ACK!" She had grabbed the front of his shirt and brought him up to her eye level. The intense look on her face made him pause but, just as he had hoped, she kissed him. "I am _NEVER_ doing this again, understand?" she growled under her breath. He shook his head, adding, "No, ma'am. Never again."

Tammy put her husband down and fell onto a stool with a resigned sigh. "Alright, Tap-man," she said, "where do you want me?"

"You can actually stay there for a minute, Mrs. Fix-It. I need to borrow Felix for a bit." The Fix-Its blinked and exchanged glances. "Jiminy jaminy, Tapper. Whadaya need me for?" Sour Bill took a step forward. "We aren't sure this is a fool-proof plan," he hummed, "so we want to test it on someone first." Felix gulped, fearing where this was going. "I volunteered to be the gummy pig and Tapper is going to make me a completely different skin. If I can go from being candy to something else entirely it shouldn't be a problem to make the president into a larger human," he finished.

The handyman let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and nodded. "That's mighty kind of you, Bill. And a great notion!" He turned to the barkeep for instructions. Tapper had him take off his hat, gloves, and tool belt and stand in the pool of light the game screen was letting in. Ten fidgety minutes later, Tapper finished his rough draft. "Alright, Billy, I just need a good look atcha." He studied the advisor's eyes (the window to the soul) and added a few more details to the picture. When that was done, he put a piece of tracing paper over the drawing to transfer to a clean sheet and copied it over. The whole process took a little over an hour, but the result was worth it.

"Oh my land, Tapper! This is great!" The little hero exclaimed. Even dour Sour Bill looked pleased. Tapper smiled and handed over the design. "It's nothin', fellas. Thanks for your patience, Mrs. Fix-It. You ready?" Twenty minutes later Calhoun's outline was on paper. "That's all I can do for now, I'm afraid," the soda-jerk said with a shrug.

The woman hummed and gently took the drawing from him. "This looks good, but she's only got eight digits. Four on each hand. Maybe you could give her a smaller cup size too, if you know what I mean, and not so curvy hips? I don't know what the programmers were thinking, giving me a body like this…!" she sighed. Tapper nodded, "I think I can do that, but I'll need Vanellope here to get the finer details. Getting her to sit still long enough for me to draw a caricature would be a good cover," he winked, nudging the little green ball. They all laughed as he rolled his eyes. "I'll bring this to you when it's finished, Bill. You live in the castle in Sugar Rush right?" The sour candy nodded and they all bid the barman farewell.

The three companions exited the Tapper monorail and entered Game Central Station. "What are ya gonna do now, Sour Bill?" Felix inquired. "I was hoping you would come with me to install this. If I ask you to look at my own code and escort you it's not going Turbo. And President Vanellope is still asleep so we won't get caught." the candy man replied. Calhoun smirked and let out a snicker. "That's pretty sneaky, Lemon Drop. And clever." He looked away, turning a slightly darker green. "You don't serve someone for fifteen years without picking up a few things." The handyman nervously chuckled, "I'm glad you're on_ our_ side, Bill." The little steward fixed him with an especially serious stare. "I'm on _Vanellope's_ side," he deadpanned.

* * *

Felix opened the door and swam into the darkness of Sugar Rush's code well, Sour Bill right behind him, clutching the new design paper and trailing the licorice rope. They came to Sour Bill's code and the little hero hesitantly put his hand up to tap it open. "Are you sure you're okay with this, Bill?" The little candy hummed the affirmative. "I would rather you test this on myself than her presidentness, and maybe this might help make up for how she was treated for so long." Felix bowed his head slightly and felt a tiny grin tug at the corner of his mouth. "That's mighty kind of you, neighbor. Well, here goes nothin'!"

He double tapped Bill's data file and looked for the folder marked 'character design'. He opened that, saw a file entitled 'final design', and called up the images inside. The pictures came up and Bill shuddered. "It's very strange," he droned, "Like looking in a mirror and not at the same time." Felix grunted and grabbed the wires that led from the main picture and began to gently pull at them, teasing out a new connection.

When the leads seemed to be long enough, he plucked the test design out of the little assistant's candy hands. "Y'know?" he chuckled anxiously, "I'm not actually sure what I'm doing." Bill said nothing. "What do you think we should do?" the handyman prompted. The green candy shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe all you have to do is attach the wires to the picture and close the file?"

"Great idea!"

Felix pressed the wires to the top and bottom of the picture, tacking them down like putty and closed the file. The design was kicked out and drifted away. The two yelped and frantically tried to retrieve it. With the slightly crumpled paper safely in his hand, the visitor opened his intended file again. "Okay, so that didn't work," he sighed. "Maybe we don't have to connect it at all? It might connect itself." He put the paper in the data location and closed it again with the same result. Bill retrieved it this time. "Seems to me that you need to securely attach the paper to the wires so it can't be rejected," he droned. Felix pursed his lips and put a finger up to his mouth, thinking. An idea came to him. Wordlessly he opened the data file again, teased out another set of wires, and poked them through the paper at the top and bottom. When the file was closed the paper was rejected again. "Argh! This is hopeless!" he growled, pouting.

The green candy retrieved the design and stared blandly at the file, thinking. Emotionlessly he opened the folder once more, extracted more coils like he had seen, poked the wires through the paper, and twisted the thread on itself. There was a flash and the paper became part of the code. Felix instantly cheered up and guffawed, "You did it, little buddy!" and grabbed the sour assistant in a tight bear hug. Bill groaned and pushed the man off. "We don't know that yet," he said impassively, "It still might not work." Felix was extremely excited, though, and he wouldn't be brought down just yet. "Well, we'll just have to see what happens, won't we?" he winked.

He closed all the files until they were all collapsed back into one icon. The second his code was closed up, Sour Bill shouted in surprise as he started to glow. "What's happening?!" he screamed as he spun in slow circles. Felix gaped as the little ball in front of him shined brighter and elongated into a humanoid shape. The figure stopped moving and the light dissipated. "Oh my land… Bill! Look at you!"

The castle steward looked himself over and gulped. He was human, about the size of a Sugar Rush racer and dressed in a simple, nice looking page boy's outfit, just like the picture they uploaded. Unfortunately, also like the picture, he lacked color. "This is uncomfortable," he sighed, and suddenly he was his usual green, sour, candy self. If Felix had been on solid ground, he would have jumped. "Well, I'll be dipped! You changed back, Bill! How did you do that?"

The candy man shrugged again. "I have no clue. I was thinking about what I used to look like and I became this again." The repairman tapped his fist in his palm. "I'll bet you can actively control your image! You can choose between your original candy form and the new one we uploaded." Bill nodded and hummed, "That is possible, but it might take some getting used to. I'm trying to change again and nothing is happening." Felix patted him on the head. "You probably have to practi- yikes!" Bill changed back to a grey-scale human. "You'll get the hang of it," he affirmed.

He turned back to the code for Sour Bill and opened it again to the character design. "If you want," he started, "let's see if we can remove your new image, add color, and reupload the design." The little man shook his head, turning back into candy. "No, just remove it. I'd be happy to test your color idea but I'd rather stay the way the programmers intended me."

"I can respect that," the real man said cheerfully and carefully removed the human aspect of Sour Bill. He worked the loose wires back into the main one and closed the files. The encoded picture became paper again and the candy assistant glowed for a second as his code internalized the changes. He shook himself to clear his head. "Glad that's over," he droned.

They exited the darkness of the code well and walked to the castle gates. "Thank you, Fix-It Felix," Bill said with a rare smile. "Vanellope really hit the jackpot with friends like you." Felix sniffed bashfully, tipped his hat, and bid the steward farewell.

He had almost made it into the power cord tunnel when he heard something that made his heart stop: Yuni was calling out from DDR.

"Litwak is coming! Get back to your games and _hurry_!"

With a frantic and drawn-out scream he ran home as fast as his little legs could carry him.


	18. Chapter 18

Ralph woke in total darkness, barely able to move. "Where am I?" he yawned, not bothered by the small space in the least. He felt around and could tell he was in something round and made of wood. He slid his hands up the wall to try and find the ceiling. "Wow!" he exclaimed as his arms fully extended, "This goes on forev- Wait a minute… Heyo!" Ralph's fingers had found an edge; further exploration revealed it to be a lip or something and he was able to grasp it and heave himself up, sort of. The floor seemed to come with him, stopping when his upper torso was exposed.

The man looked around to see that he was standing in a stump in a very large brick pile. A sign nearby read "Dump". He frowned. "Please tell me I _don't_ really live here," he grumbled to himself. Off to the side he could see a bunch of huge houses. "Are those supposed to be there?" Ralph wondered, "Maybe that's a bonus level, or something like that." He noticed that the game had a strange orange glow about it and knew that was not right. He clambered out of the stump and started to explore.

For some reason, the game seemed to be devoid of other inhabitants! "Hello!" the giant bellowed, "Is anyone here?" He was answered by cricket chirps. Ralph's eyes landed on the game screen and saw that something was covering it. It was orange and had something written on the front. With some effort, he was able to make out [Out of Order] at the top.

"Out of order?" he gasped, "When did that happen? And how?! I gotta get outta here too!" He searched for an exit and spotted the power cord tunnel. He dashed over, only to be stopped by a feeling of intense dread. "I… can't get out, can I?" Tentatively, the villain took tiny steps forward, afraid of what he might discover. He came to the entrance, expecting something to happen (nothing did) and put up his hand, believing he would be stopped (he wasn't). His hand went through empty air and into the tunnel. He breathed a sigh of relief, laughing at his own foolishness.

Before he could take a step into the passageway, though, a frantic voice beyond the cabinet screen called out, "Litwak is coming! Get back to your games and_ hurry_!" A clattering sound came from the tunnel and a tiny light was getting bigger. Ralph didn't wait around to see what it was. He was dashing back to his stump, knowing in his code that's where he was supposed to be.

A blue trolley cheerfully rolled up the tracks, clanging merrily as it stopped at the platform. A small man and even smaller people piled out and made a bee-line for the large apartment building. The first man looked over at him, smiled brightly, and waved as he zipped over. "Ralph, you had me worried there!" he chuckled. He clapped the big guy on the shoulder. "You ready to do some wreckin'?" The Bad Guy blinked and stammered, "Y- yeah." The little man chortled again and gave him a thumbs-up. "Great! We're all set for the demo screen, so make sure Litwak can hear ya. We'll talk later, 'kay?" He didn't wait for an answer and bounded off to his start position.

Ralph stared after him, bewildered, and shrugged. "Uh _huh_," he muttered, not sure what else to say. He lumbered up to the side of the building and smiled a small smile to himself. He was programmed for this and was ready to start his wrecking career with a bang. He raised his arms above his head and shouted angrily, "I'm gonna wreck it!"

* * *

Stan Litwak was on his way to a nice dinner with his wife's family and was a little early. He saw his arcade coming up the street and made a quick decision to stop. "Where are you going, dear?" his wife, Gloria, asked when he pulled into the parking lot. "Just wanna check on something, sweetheart." He turned off the car but left the keys in the ignition. "I won't be long," he said as he subtly grabbed a quarter from the ash tray and got out. "Can I come too, Dad?" his teenagers, Lee and Joy, piped up simultaneously. He laughed, "Not today," and unlocked the front door.

The arcade owner took a quick gander around to make sure everything was in order. Wait… was that a stuffed fox critter in the Sonic game? He blinked and it was the real character on the screen. Huh? How strange. Well, he didn't have time to stop and wonder. He came up to the Fix-It Felix, Jr. cabinet and could hear angry growls, happy little dings, and the occasional "yoo hoo!" That must be a good sign! He peeled off the paper covering the screen and there was Ralph, destroying the building as he should be.

Litwak inserted his coin and the game began. "You two have_ got_ to stop tempting fate like this," he said as he maneuvered Felix all over the screen, fixing windows and snagging pies. "I'm kind of glad I didn't call a repairman, though. I don't know if I could explain it if my broken game had fixed itself again!" Level one was clear, which was farther than the last kid was able to get. He started the next level to be extra sure everything was okay.

A car horn honked and he turned with a start, resulting in a lost life. "Oops. Gotta go, you guys, so let's finish this level." He cleared the stage and let Felix die, getting the game over message. That cleared and the demo screen started up. Everything seemed hunky dory! "Now, I don't want anymore trouble from you," he said sternly, shaking a finger like he was scolding a child. He couldn't help but smile at his own ridiculous behavior and turned to go. "I'll see you all, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, tomorrow!" Mr. Litwak left the arcade and locked the door behind him.

Yuni from DDR watched him go and hollered, "All clear! He's gone." The games all breathed a sigh of relief.

Ralph picked himself out of the demo mud and wiped his overalls clean. He took two steps forward and was suddenly surrounded by the little Nicelanders, all of them clamoring at once.

"Ralph! Are you okay?"

"What happened?"

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"What's my name?"

It just went on and on. The Bad Guy jerkily went from holding his hands in front of him to behind his head and back again. "Now, wai- I dunno- Uh- Uh-"

"_STOP!_"

Felix came up, looking quite cross. "Shame on all of you!" he tutted. "Give him some space and ask one question atta time!" He smiled at the people and then at the antagonist. "I'll go first, if you don't mind, folks. How ya feelin', brother?" Ralph looked at him, greatly confused. "I'm fine, but I don't thing we're brothers. There's nothing in my back-story like that." The hero laughed, "No, we're not brothers, exactly, but we are close friends!"

"That doesn't sound right, either," Ralph said, frowning. "The Bad Guy and Good Guy, friends? Are you sure?" Felix's smile faltered. 'Oh my land, this sounds bad.' He fixed the giant with a serious stare. "Ralph," he said softly, "please tell me everything you know. Back-story, your friends' names, hobbies, everything." Ralph blockily sat down and rubbed the back of his neck. 'He's moving like an 8-bit character again!' Felix mentally panicked, 'This is _really_ not good!'

"Well, uh- Well, I guess I'll start with my back-story. My name is Ralph and I was living here in the forest- quite peacefully, too, mind you!" he grumped, "And then- BAM! I'm given an eviction notice from Mayor Half-Pint here, saying 'this is our land now' and blah, blah, blah. I got mad and… well, here we are." Sheepishly, almost as if he was ashamed, he continued on, "As for friends and hobbies, I don't have any. My back-story doesn't say I have any and we've just been plugged in, so I don't have friends outside of work. Why is this important?"

Felix didn't meet his eyes. The little hero ran his thumb along his golden hammer and bit his lip as he thought about what to say and how to go about it. He was about to say something, _anything_ really, when Q*Bert came hopping up. " #$*&" he squeaked at Ralph, who just stared at him. "#$ !*$" he tried again. The villain looked around to make sure he was the one being addressed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, little guy, I don't understand you. Are you lost?" Q*Bert's eyes widened and he turned to Felix for an explanation. " #!~&*" the protagonist honked. The orange hero nodded and left.

Felix waved goodbye, when suddenly he was lifted into the air by his shirt collar with a yelp. Ralph had grabbed him and held him up to see him better, an annoyed look on his face. "Alright, Cap'n Hammer," he growled, "what's goin' on?" Felix instinctively brought his limbs closer to his body and smiled apprehensively. "Whadaya mean, neighbor?" he said. The giant gestured wildly behind him, trying to indicate the whole game. "Somethin' stinks here, and it's not just me! We're barely plugged in and we're out of order? What 'bout that little orange guy and the fact that you understand him? And my back-story says I'm alone, but-" he stopped, his face uncomfortably hot. The little man in his grasp stifled a giggle and tried to compose himself.

He had a good idea what his antagonist was talking about and was tickled pink. "But what, Ralph? I'm not a mind reader, y'know!" Ralph looked away, glowering. He had just met the guy, but he felt himself trusting the handyman for some reason. "…But it feels like I'm missing someone. Someone important," he finally admitted. Felix nodded sagely, saying nothing. He and Tammy had talked last night and decided to let Ralph and Vanellope figure things out on their own. "That _is_ strange. Do you know who yer lookin' for?" The large man shook his head. "How can I? We're new here. Aren't we?" There was a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Felix chewed on his lip as he debated about what to reveal. He remembered how much hiding Ralph's condition had hurt Vanellope so he decided on the truth. Most of it, anyway. "Well, Ralph, the thing is-"

The trolley clanged, startling them both. They looked to the station and saw, much like a clown car, about a million little red, blue, and yellow creatures pop out of the first two carts. The last one had a little man in a white lab coat sitting in it, a jar containing multicolored pills on his lap. He handed it to some of the creatures that had stayed on the platform. The rest had swarmed to where Ralph, Felix, and the Nicelanders were watching the bizarre scene in bug-eyed amazement.

Ralph's fascination turned to panic. He had never seen these things before and they were literally multiplying! He quickly gathered everyone around him into his hands and, ignoring their shouts and complaints, held them above his head. "We don't want any trouble!" the villain shouted, trying to sound fierce. "Just go back to yer own game and leave us alone!" The sea of monsters parted around him and remerged, forming a ring. The sound of their chattering was almost deafening.

"Here, now, all of you! Don't be rude!" The man in white said as he walked up, a hand of the jar to steady it as three red critters carried it along. The varmints parted again and let the party in. He stopped in front of the giant and puffed, "Phew! I came as soon as I could. Mr. Fix-It told me you were reset and I'm terribly sorry! I wish I had finished these sooner."

Ralph stared at him blankly. "Uh… do I know you?" he asked stiffly. Dr. Mario held up a hand and caught his breath. "You did at one point, Mr. Wreck-It," he huffed. "My name is Dr. Mario. I was helping you treat your Virus. Usually, it doesn't take me long to make an antiviral program, but you had an entirely new type of infection."

The Bad Guy whirled on where the hero was standing until he remembered he was holding him. He set the wad of people down and gently pulled Felix out. "This is what you were going to tell me, wasn't it?" he said flatly. The little man nodded. Ralph pinched the bridge of his nose and sat on the ground. "You've gotta be pullin' my leg," he said to no one in particular, "and yet I think you might be right." He looked at Felix. The little hero nodded and patted the villain's shoulder. "I wish I could prove it to ya, Ralph, but you were reset and lost your memory so I can't. I'm sorry."

"I might be able to help with that," the doctor inserted. He grabbed a pill out of the jar and handed it to the giant. "I knew the Virus was erasing your memory files so part of the antiviral program is supposed to restore them." Ralph stared at the tiny object in his massive hand. "So… what do I do with this?"

"You swallow it. Make sure you don't bite it."

Nodding, Ralph brought the pill to his mouth but didn't pop it in. Mario had grabbed his hand before it could be ingested. "I'm not making any guarantees, Mr. Ralph," he said in a concerned tone. "This may or not work because you have been reset, but it won't hurt to try."

"Thanks, doc. Well, bottoms up, I guess." The wrecker swallowed the medicine and started to glow faintly.


	19. Chapter 19

Ralph glowed brighter and brighter. "What's goin' on?!" he yelped. "The program is taking effect." Dr. Mario assured him. The light faded, the wrecker looked himself over quickly, and then he was once again assaulted by a barrage of questions. This time the viruses had joined the cacophony and Ralph was rapidly developing a migraine.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "_SHUT UP_!" he bellowed. The Nicelanders made a hasty retreat about fifty feet back and the frightened little germs condensed into their original colors to hide behind the doctor. Glaring and shaking his head in exasperation, Ralph got to his feet. "_Thank_ you," he said tersely, "I can finally hear myself think!" Face softening slightly, he turned to the little man in white. "Okay, doc, how do I know it worked? I don't feel any different." Mario frowned, "I didn't think you _would _feel different, Ralph, after being reset, but can you remember anything?" The Bad Guy pondered for a second then sighed as he shook his head once more. "Nope, nothin' I don't already know. Why didn't it fix me?"

The doctor held his hands up in defeat. "I don't know. I wasn't sure this program would restore your memory files in the first place. I don't usually have a problem recalling data a normal Virus erased, but you had something else entirely. It seems the Virus you were infected with was organically based and possibly mutated." Ralph stared blankly at him, not sure how to respond.

Felix took a timid step forward, hat clutched in his hand. "So what should we do? Ralph is still okay, right?"

"That antiviral program destroyed any lingering effects of the Virus but it seems unable to recover his memory. He's okay and I'm going to call that a win!" He smiled at the giant. "The only thing you need to do now is get out there and live a full life." He snapped his fingers, exclaiming, "That reminds me! I brought extra copies of the program for everyone to take. Prevention is the best medicine, y'know."

All the Fix-It Felix, Jr. residents took a brightly colored pill and lit up the darkened world briefly. "Can I take two extra ones, Dr. Mario?" the repairman asked. "I know a couple o' gals who might need this!" The doctor nodded and he put them in his tool belt pouch. Pleased with how things were turning out, he smiled and clapped the antagonist on the arm. "C'mon, brother. We should get a move on."

"Uh," Ralph stammered, "where are we going?"

"Doc said to live a full life and there's no time like the present! There's someone I'd like you to meet."

* * *

Vanellope had only been up for a short while and she already had a stomach ache. She had been thinking about Ralph all night and now she had a whole swarm of butterflies inside her that was eating her alive. This did _not_ bode well for the rest of the day. She would have talked to Calhoun but a note in the guest room said she was running a perimeter check in her game. There was no word on Felix but she didn't mind. The little president didn't want to talk to anyone else and she knew she wasn't going to get any work done. There was only one thing to do: go for a drive.

She quickly got dressed, grabbed a pop-tart from the kitchen, and went to look for Sour Bill. "Yo! Sourpuss!" she called out as she turned corner after corner. He was nowhere to be found. Shrugging, the girl went down to the garage. Grunting with effort, she lugged three gas cans full of maple syrup fuel over and strapped them to the back of her kart. The karts' tanks were automatically refueled at the end of a race, but since no one was going to play Sugar Rush today she would have to take care of that herself.

With the cans tied securely down, Vanellope grabbed a stopwatch from a workbench drawer, left a note on the top of the bench, and started down the path. "Alright, Vanellope," she said to herself, "let's see what you can do! 'Vanellope's World Grand Prix' starts in three… two… one… NOW!" She clicked the stopwatch and, squealing in delight, took off like a shot. The roar of her engine drowned out the warning from Yuni and the cloud of dust she kicked up blew away the note.

* * *

Ralph and Felix moseyed along through Game Central Station. Surprisingly, Surge hadn't stopped them on the way out of Fix-It Felix, Jr. Ralph looked around in absolute wonder. "Wow!" he gasped. "It's huge in here! I kinda feel like a normal sized person. Where are we going first?" Felix grinned and blushed as he replied, "We're gonna head over to Hero's Duty and pick up my wife, Tamora, before we go over to Sugar Rush."

The wrecker scrunched up his face in disgust. "'Sugar Rush'? That sounds ridiculously sweet. What's the point of going _there_?"

Felix didn't seem to hear him. He had spotted Tammy coming out of her game and ran over happily. "Tammy! You didn't hafta come out here. We were comin' to getcha!" The soldier smiled and batted his hat bill down. "I know, Short Stack, but I was gonna catch a ride on the crazy train if I had to listen to any more of Markowski's pathetic mewling!" She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Sorriest excuse for a soldier I ever saw…"

The woman noticed Ralph standing embarrassed in the distance and she nodded in his direction. "Glad to see you functioning, Wreck-It. If you didn't reboot I was gonna hafta kill you for endangering yer game again!" He stared at her blankly, confused. "What are you talkin' about, lady? 'Endangering my game'? Virus or not, I think I'd remember something like that." Tamora looked at her husband with a slightly worried expression on her face. She bent down to whisper to Felix, "Did he completely reset?" He nodded solemnly. "Looks like it, ma'am." The handyman then leaned in closer and breathed in her ear, "But I think the old Ralph might still be in there!"

The married couple smiled at each other and, holding hands, went over to the villain. Tammy held out her free hand. "Name's Sgt. Tamora Calhoun Fix-It, Wreck-It. You can call me 'Sarge', 'Calhoun', or 'Tamora'. It's good to have you back." Ralph hesitantly shook her hand. "It's good to be back…?" She smiled softly and started off towards Sugar Rush. "Well, boys, let's move out! That little cavity is probably wound up tighter than Zangief's pocket watch!" Shuddering at the mental image that conjured up, Felix followed behind her and Ralph brought up the rear.

"So," he called out, "we're going to meet someone else, right? Who is it?"

The Fix-Its said, at the same time, "Vanellope."

* * *

The ragtag group arrived at the palace, knocked on the door, and a frantic Sour Bill answered. "Thank goodness you're here!" he said quickly. "We can't find the president! Have you seen her?" Felix shook his head. "No! We thought she was still here! Where have you looked?"

"All of her usual spots. We found that her kart is gone and the garage open. There's no note, she's just gone!" Calhoun took charge. "Alright, Sour Bill, now is _not_ the time to panic. She probably went for a drive to calm her nerves. Tell the other racers to take one track each and check for her. Felix and I will look from the air." Ralph cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh, what can I do? Maybe I can help find her." Calhoun threw down her cruiser and got on. "You can look in the areas surrounding the different tracks. We're looking for a small girl with black hair, a green hoodie, and a double brown skirt. Answers to the name of Vanellope." Before Ralph could say anything else, she flew off, Felix holding onto her leg to keep steady.

The giant stared after them, dumbfounded and unsure where to start. The worked up little candy guy had already left so he shrugged and jogged down the long path. Off in the distance he could see a huge candy cane forest. 'Getting up high is a great idea,' he thought. 'I might be able to see better from up there.' With a destination and a plan in mind, he sped up and headed for the trees.

* * *

"Great job, Vanellope," the missing girl grumbled, "Not only did you not bring enough extra gas, you just _had _to take a shortcut through the forest and broke an axle on a log!" She growled and paced back and forth. "No one know you're here," she continued to berate herself, "it's too far to glitch, glitching the kart will use too much energy, _and_ this stupid place looks the all the same! I can't go get help 'cause I'll lose the kart!" The racer threw her head back and shrieked, "THIS SUCKS!" The theme song playing in the background seemed to play just a bit louder as if to try and comfort her.

She threw herself to the ground in a huff, sour and disgruntled look on her face. The girl stewed in her anger for a few minutes, before her thoughts inevitably turned to Ralph and she sighed. "I wish Stinkbrain was here," she sniffed. "If he was, he wouldn't have that stupid Virus and he'd be okay and I wouldn't be out here in the first place!" She wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes away, brought her knees up to her chest, and rested her chin on them.

Vanellope sat forlornly in silence until she heard a voice off in the distance.

"…ellope!"

Her ears pricked up and she cupped her hand to hear better. The voice called again and it seemed to be moving closer. "Sweet mother of monkey milk, I'm saved!" she cheered and climbed the tree to see who her rescuer was. She reached the top branch, shielded her eyes, and squinted into the distance. What, or rather who, she saw almost made her fall out. "No way," she breathed, "It can't be…!" Climbing haphazardly down, Vanellope ran through the forest to the figure in the distance. As she got closer, she could hear his voice and she couldn't stop a silly grin from appearing on her face. She skidded to a halt about thirty behind him and quietly climbed again, careful to stay out of sight.

She stayed there, grinning like a loon and planning her next move. "Okay, Vanellope," she muttered, "remember what Sarge said. It's important to be yourself! Just keep cool."

"Penellope!" Ralph bellowed again, unaware of the girl behind him.

Vanellope snorted quietly, "What's that crackerjack's problem?" she hissed. "He's _so_ askin' for it now!" As the wrecker climbed down to search a different spot, the imp glitched to be just above him.

"Hey, mister!"

"_Aaaugh!_"

He fell, arms flailing, until he miraculously caught hold of a sturdy branch. Heart racing and gasping, the Bad Guy looked all around to try and find the source of the voice he heard. About fifteen feet above him, a girl lay on a branch with her chin resting in her palms. He glared at her and was about to tell her off when a teeny, tiny, _something_ clicked in the back of his subconscious and he blushed furiously. He knew this girl, didn't he? And she's special… to him… somehow?

She smirked and waved mockingly, "The name's _Va_nellope, Ralph. See ya next fall!"

"Huh!?"

The branch in his grasp blinked and disappeared. Screaming, he fell again, stumbled when he landed on the ground, and fell into a nearby taffy swamp.

* * *

**I'm so mean, aren't I? :)**


	20. Chapter 20

The day was coming to a close and the little president and giant taffy monster returned to the castle. The gooey substance had left a bright blue trail leading into the forest so Vanellope wasn't worried about losing her kart.

Ralph's annoyed grumblings were muffled by the taffy that covered him from head to toe and it was getting harder to walk. 'Rotten little brat,' he groused, 'She did that on purpose!' He stopped with a jerk as his foot seemed to glue itself to the neat, white path yet again. 'If she's the president of Sugar Rush I feel bad for everyone else!' His attempts to free himself proved to be futile and he fell behind Vanellope.

The child noticed this and turned back, shaking her head in exasperation. "C'mon, Ralph! Can you move any slower? We're losin' daylight, here!" The man growled and made a choking motion just above her head. Unable to do more to vent his frustrations, he slapped a massive hand to his face in defeat and immediately regretted doing so: it was now stuck. She laughed and headed off for the castle again. "Well, Sticky Fingers, you appear to be in a tight spot. I'll be right back so don't go anywhere!" She laughed harder when she heard him groan.

Ralph silently fumed as he watched her disappear through the front gate. This just wasn't fair! He tries to help someone and this happens! He gets covered in taffy and the girl is an obnoxious brat. To top it off, he had a terrible headache from the moment he laid eyes on her.

The man bellyached to himself until he suddenly heard voices approaching and a strange creaking sound. He turned his head and saw that that girl had come back, a walking green candy and two doughnut cops close behind her and pulling a cart full of chocolates. Vanellope put on heavy gloves, picked up one of the sweets, and put it on his feet. If he could have, Ralph would have jumped. Those candies were cold!

"Sorry 'bout the cold, Ralphie, but we gotta get that stuff off ya. These Ice Cubes should help harden the taffy so we can just break it off!" She motioned to the policepastries behind her and they started putting more of the Ice Cubes on the ground behind him. Just as he was starting to lose feeling in his feet the éclair man pushed him over and he toppled onto the candies with a muffled shriek. The blue substance snapped, exposing his feet. Vanellope smiled and nodded. "It's progress. You got that hammer, Sour Bill?" The little candy man hummed and held up a small mallet. "Great. Thanks. Wynchell? Duncan? Go ahead and put the rest on him. I'll start down here."

"Can do, ma'am!"

"Work fast, Miss President," Bill warned. "He'll get hypothermia if you take too long."

She nodded, serious look on her face, and quickly began to tap the candy encasing her giant friend. Slowly but surely, the child was able to crack the taffy with the hammer in one hand and clear away the debris and chocolate with the other. The wrecker's toes were turning blue when she had worked her way up to his head. Ralph's hand was removed from his face, but Vanellope was loath to continue. "So, Sourpuss, should I just keep going or do you have a better idea?" Sour Bill smiled a tiny, wicked smile and walked over to the villain's head. "I have a better idea, Miss President. Lift your head a bit, Wreck-It." Ralph complied and the steward ripped the taffy off in one swift motion. Ralph yelled out in pain and winced. "THAT was your brilliant plan, Cough Drop?!"

He rolled over with a groan and brushed off the rest of the gunk when he got up. Rubbing his arms and stamping his feet to warm up, he looked up into and around the sky. "We should probably let those other two know you're okay, Pipsqueak. What're their names? Freddy and Carlton?" The little racer snorted, "Felix and Calhoun!" and slapped her hand to her forehead. "C'mon, Chumbo! Don't tell me you seriously don't remember us!" She looked at him with wide, pleading eyes and softly asked, "Did you really forget _me_?" Ralph's cheeks blazed red and he suddenly had trouble speaking. With some difficulty he mumbled something about finding the still searching couple and ran down the road.

Vanellope, Sour Bill, and the cops stared after him, flabbergasted.

* * *

Ralph's feet pounded steadily along the cocoa path, his mind a million miles away. 'Something must be wrong with me,' he ruminated. 'The second I meet that kid I'm going haywire! Maybe that antiviral thing messed up my code.' He slowed to a walk then stopped completely, bent over double and gasping. "Yeah, that's it," he panted, "My code got messed up, that's all. I just need to have Doc take a look at me."

He saw something blue out of the corner of his eye which turned out to be the trail of blue taffy. The man's heart thudded in his chest as he thought of the kart at the end of the track and how much it seemed to mean to that little girl. "I should probably get that," he murmured.

He was coming out of the forest with Vanellope's vehicle on one shoulder when he heard a dull whine above him. The Bad Guy looked up to see Franky and Catherine flying in his direction so he waved a massive hand to catch their attention. They came around and the little hero bounded over as his beloved wife collapsed the hoverboard.

"Jiminy jaminy, Ralph! That's Vanellope's kart! Is she with you?" Ralph shook his head and jerked a thumb back toward the castle. "Uh uh. I found her in the forest and took her back. I guess she ran out of gas and broke an axle." He flushed slightly in embarrassment. "We had to leave her kart behind because we couldn't move it. She's not strong enough to push it and I… uh… fell in a taffy swamp."

Felix pressed his lips together and covered his mouth with on hand, trying to hide a smirk. Calhoun was not so tactful and guffawed, "Way ta go, Junkpile! Yer such a klutz sometimes!" The wrecker rolled his eyes and glowered. "Ha, ha. Very funny. Well, _since_ you're _such_ a nice gal, can you take this back for me? I gotta talk to that Dr. Marius guy." The Fix-Its looked at him blankly as he set the little buggy down when comprehension suddenly dawned on the small man's face. "Oh, you mean Dr. Mario! Gee, Ralph, what's wrong?"

The giant rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks a dark crimson. "Ah, I just wanna have him gimme look over. I think my code mighta been messed up."

"What makes you think that?"

"I've got this massive headache and ever since I me- ade it here my heart's been pounding and I'm pretty sure my face is gonna catch on fire."

The repairman heard the catch in the antagonist's voice and knew he wasn't being truthful about the cause of his symptoms. It seemed that the reset couldn't obliterate Ralph's strongest emotions and that balance he had before was moving from the paternal end of the spectrum to romance end. Felix was only too happy to help it along.

"Jiminy jaminy, friend, that sounds awful! Lemme get this fixed up and I'll come with you." Ralph raised an eyebrow. "Why? I can take care of myself, thank you very much!" The hero in blue pulled out his hammer and motioned for the villain in red to lift the kart up again. "Can you grab that for me, brother? Thanks." He walked under it and began the repairs. "If it'll make any difference, Ralph, I'm just goin' with ya for moral support. You weren't too keen on visits to the Doc's office before the reset." After a couple of smacks with the legendary tool and a happy "ding!" the peppermint axle rod was whole again.

The giant snorted. "Look, Shortstuff, you might have known me before this reset, but you don't know me now! I don't need _anyone _to hold my hand." Felix fretfully held up his hands in surrender and instinctually took a step back. "I'm not trying to coddle you, Ralph! Honest! I'm just tryin' to help you." He took off his hat and gripped it tightly. "I also wanted to talk to you in private and this seemed like a golden opportunity. Is that alright with you?" Ralph shook his head and growled, "Do what you want. It doesn't matter to me. Just make sure that kid gets her car back." He took a few angry steps then turned back to look at them. "Please," he added in a low voice and his expression softened. Having said his piece, the Bad Guy left.

The superintendent sighed, put his hat back on, and hopped in the kart. He managed to find the starter button but he was at a loss as to what needed to be done to get it moving. Calhoun knelt down next to him.

"What are you doing, Sweetums?"

"Trying to get this silly contraption to go, ma'am."

She snickered. "First of all, you need to push the accelerator pedal. Secondly, it's not going anywhere without gas." Her husband blushed and muttered, "Oops." She batted his hat bill down and lifted him out. "I can take care of this, soldier. Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Felix looked at the rapidly shrinking villain in the distance and back at his love. "You heard him, Milady. He doesn't want me comin' with him." Tammy snorted. "No, he said he doesn't need a nanny. Yer not gonna baby that wuss so he's got nothin' to complain about!" She set him down. "You said so yourself that you just want to talk to him, so go talk!" Smiling and nodding, the handyman tipped his hat and hopped as fast as he could to catch up.

He just made it onto the candy train that would take them back to Game Central Station and plopped down next to his distant friend.

They rode in silence while the smaller man thought of a way to broach this touchy subject. "Um, Ralph?" he began. Ralph grunted in acknowledgement. "Have you considered the possibility that yer not sick?" Ralph stared at him skeptically. "And what do you suppose is going on?"

"I think you might be a little goofy about a certain someone."

"_Huh_? What does that even mean?"

"Y'know! Someone's caught yer eye, yer crazy about her, you gotta thing for her, she stole yer heart?" Oh, he was on a roll now. "You are in _love,_ brother!"

Ralph was seriously surprised his face _hasn't_ caught on fire yet, his cheeks surely must have warmed up to the ignition point by now… "You've gotta be kidding," he muttered, one cheek in his hand and elbow resting on the edge of the window he was looking out of. "Me? Love _her_? Yer outta yer mind."

* * *

The Fix-It Felix, Jr. men walked into the dark corridor of Dr. Mario. The villain was noticeably nervous but he pressed on. They rounded a corner and came face to face with the doctor himself, a HUGE syringe sitting on a dolly next to the front desk. Ralph's eyes locked on it and he immediately paled, frozen stiff.

"Y'know what?" he squeaked, "I'm fine, really!" Before anyone could process what happened, he magically disappeared, proverbial trail of fire burning in the hallway. Mario and Felix stared after him. "Oh my land, I knew Ralph was fast," Felix gulped, "but THAT certainly takes the cake!"

"I agree," Dr. Mario nodded. "Good thing Tiny the T-Rex from Fatal Assault only needs a booster shot twice a year."

* * *

**Disney Wiki says one of Ralph's 'powers' is 'immense speed' so I'm going to use that to my advantage. And my entertainment :)**


	21. Chapter 21

Ralph woke the next day in the dark confines of his stump drenched in a cold sweat. All night he had been plagued with nightmares but he couldn't remember them. The only thing he knew was someone he cared about was in danger while he was powerless to save them and that was extremely frustrating.

The villain sat there trying to remember his disturbing vision until his stomach reminded him that it was breakfast time. "Where am I gonna find some food?" he grumbled as he climbed out. In the distance he saw that diminutive hero walking in the direction of a grove of trees, whistling cheerfully. "Hey!" he called out, "Hey, wait up, buddy!" and dashed to catch up. Felix turned, saw who was addressing him, and smiled. "Good morning, Ralph! After you disappeared yesterday I wondered where you got to."

The giant slowed down to be as casual as he could and sidled up to the little man. "Yeeeaah, it was a long day yesterday and I was really tired so I decided to get in some sack time. Gotta be ready for my first day!" He smiled a big, cheesy grin. "That was probably a really wise notion, brother," Felix nodded. "You _were_ just reset, after all!" They both chuckled nervously, unsure what to say next. A thought occurred to the protagonist and he peered around the bulk of the antagonist to see the lonely stump in the direction he had come from. "Ralph, did you sleep in that little stump _all_ night?"

Ralph looked back at his wooden home and shrugged. "Well, sure. I mean, it's not like I have anywhere else to go, right?"

"That's not true! You have a house just over th-"

He was interrupted by a loud growl. The Bad Guy's stomach was getting tired of waiting so voiced its discontent. Ralph's eyes grew wide, his cheeks darkened, and he pressed his lips together in embarrassment as he self-consciously crossed one arm over his belly. He spluttered a poor excuse that went unheard. Felix roared with laughter, grabbed his friend's elbow, and steered him towards the trees. "Ralph, my friend, you have no idea how much that sets my mind at ease!"

As they got closer to the tree the wrecker noticed that the branches were laden with apples. "I'm not usually one for plain ol' apples," the fixer chatted, "but Tammy likes to have them around for a grab-n-go snack." He hopped up, grabbed a branch, and scrambled into the tree. "If you don't mind catchin', I'll pick enough for the both of us." The giant nodded, "Sounds good to me." Felix made short work of his task and when Ralph had an armful of the red fruit he jumped down to sit beside his friend under the tree.

Ralph was big enough (or the apples small enough) that he was able to eat the produce whole. "So, are those your trees?" he asked between mouthfuls. The protagonist grunted and rescued several of the fruits before they fell victim to the antagonist's ravenous appetite. "Oh, no, not just mine. Those trees belong to everyone in the game. Including you, friend." Ralph breathed a small sigh of relief. He wasn't going to starve and he wouldn't be stealing anything.

After the eighth whole bite, though, the overpowering taste of apple coated his tongue and he grimaced. "Man, not that I'm not grateful to have something to eat, but the same stuff every day is gonna get old real fast!" Felix laughed, "Tell me about it! Mary's pies are great an' all, but there's no way I'd survive on those alone! Thank goodness the programmers gave us cupboards that stock themselves."

The Bad Guy choked on a mouthful of fruit and pounded on his chest to clear the blockage.

"WHAT?!" he gasped, "You guys have magic cupboards?! How does that even work? And why are you out here picking apples?"

Felix hovered nervously until he saw that his friend was fine and sat down again. "Don't scare me like that, Ralph!" he scolded, "Jiminy jaminy, I thought you were gonna die!" He shook his head and sighed. "Well, I don't know _how_ the cupboards work exactly. There's only one in each apartment or house that actually generates food and other necessary items. You just open the door and something is already in there. I think the game's programming puts together code from a pre-made database and the cupboard is the output location."

The little man snickered. "I don't know if the programmers didn't know what they were doing when they set up this system or just wanted to have some fun with us, but the cupboards generate everything randomly. Tammy calls it 'playing mess-hall roulette'." Ralph grunted in surprise and nodded. "So that's why yer out here. It's easier to gather something from somewhere you _know_ for sure it's going to be than to trust your luck to a temperamental pantry. But how random _is_ it?"

"Random enough, I suppose. I think there might be an internal time-clock that keeps the system in check so you don't get a box of noodles for breakfast, at least not often, but it is possible to open up the cabinet hoping for coffee beans and getting a casserole dish." They laughed at the ridiculousness of the arrangement.

Suddenly, Yuni from DDR called out from the front of the arcade, "Here comes Mr. Litwak, everyone! Get back to your games!"

The two frenemies chuckled and got up. "Well, thanks for the fruit, Francis. I'll see you on the demo screen." The little hero tipped his hat. "See ya there, pal. And it's actually 'Felix'." The gargantuan villain nodded, "Got it."

* * *

It was a good day at the arcade. Not many of the kids knew of the disastrous Saturday so Fix-It Felix, Jr. got plenty of attention. Ralph couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something was still wrong with him. He didn't feel right and was slowing down a bit. Also, there was a strange pressure building in his limbs and joints. In the middle of the sixth game pain shot up his arms and he figured out that the pressure _was_ what was wrong with him.

"Psst! Finn!" he hissed. "Ralph," Felix hissed back, "not now! Wait 'til the end of the game!" Wincing and holding back a cry of pain, the wrecker continued his rampage.

The game ended finally and he was thrown off the roof, landing in the mud with a wet "splat!" The gamer went to a different game and Felix climbed down the fire escape as quickly as he could. He found Ralph struggling to get up. "Jiminy jaminy!" he exclaimed, "Lemme help you up, brother." He grasped the giant's hand and steadied him as he hauled himself up. "Thanks, bud," he muttered, holding his limp arm with his still usable one. A kid passed the screen and they both held their breath. When she left they breathed a sigh of relief and the Bad Guy jerked his head towards the building. "C'mon, I need to talk to you real quick. Behind the building should be safe enough."

Felix ran ahead and Ralph hobbled behind. "What's wrong with your arm, Ralph?" the smaller man inquired. "I don't know, but I was hoping you could fix it with that hammer of yours."

"I would be happy to, friend."

With a swing of his tool and a happy little "ding!" the villain was able to move his appendages freely once more. Well, as freely as an 8-bit character could anyway. Unfortunately, the pressure returned several more times that day. When the arcade finally closed Ralph fought against the muck holding him down and the strange injuries holding him back but to no avail.

"Need some help, Ralph?" Felix chuckled when he came down from the roof. "No," Ralph grunted, "it's personal now!" He squirmed and wriggled and thrashed but he just couldn't put any weight on his limbs so was unable get up. "Augh!" he growled after slipping _again_, "Fine! Yes, I need help." This time when Felix pulled him up and hit him with the mallet the pain didn't go away. They both frowned as Ralph tried to massage feeling back into his poor arm.

"Got any ideas, Shorty?" The repairman shrugged in defeat, sighing, "Not a clue." The two men stayed there, thinking, when the boom of an engine firing in the power cord tunnel startled them. Calhoun came into Niceland and landed on the grass by the apartment. "C'mon, you duck-billed pansy pussies!" she shouted, "I don't know what's keepin' ya but you two were supposed to meet me in Game Central twenty minutes ago." The hero in blue gasped and put a hand in front of his mouth. "Jiminy jaminy, Honey Bunch! I forgot about Vanellope's race!" He turned to his game-time foe. "Ralph, can you make it to Sugar Rush? It would mean the world to Vanellope if you were there."

Ralph's cheeks turned a faint pink. "Why? I mean, sure I'll come, but why would she even want _me_ there?" Felix smiled the cheesiest grin he could and chirped, "Because she lo-" His wife covered his mouth with her hand "Ix-nay on the ove-lay!" she hissed in his ear, "They need to figure it out themselves, remember!" He nodded and she released him. "You an' Cavatina were best friends before this whole reset business. You may not remember but she does."

The giant rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at the screen trying to glimpse the sugary racing game. He could feel a headache coming on but payed it no mind. "If we don't go, brother," the little man added, "Vanellope won't have anyone to cheer her on. All the racers have a fan section except for her." Ralph shook his head and held up his good hand nonchalantly. "I don't know why you guys are still trying to convince me. I _did_ say I was going!"

He turned towards the small tram platform and staggered towards it. Calhoun raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh, Wreck-It? What's with the gimp?" He shrugged. "Dunno. It's been like this all day." He eased himself up the station stairs. "Honestly, it kinda feels like I need to stretch and/or pop something, but I can't figure out what." The soldier came up next to him, grabbing his shoulder and wrist. "I'm no medic," she cautioned, "but I think this might help." Before he could object she snapped his arm straight out, pulled it slightly out of its socket and back, then manually rotated it through its full range of motion. The wrecking man screamed and tried to slip out of her grasp. "What's yer problem, Lady?! Lemme go!"

The woman smirked and let go. He scowled and shook his arm out which caused him to gasp in awe, "You fixed my arm…"

"I'll do the other one too, if you want."

Hesitantly, he held out the limb and bit back another cry as she went to work. When she was done, Ralph rubbed some of the lingering pain away. "How did you know to do that?"

"My men an' I hold up heavy weapons all day. You pick up a few tricks doin' this kind of work." Felix pointed and gasped, "Oh my land! Ralph, look! Your arms rotate smoother now." So they did. Ralph was now moving in a continuous flow like before the reboot. "Thanks for the help," he said. "We should probably get goin', though."

They made it Sugar Rush just in time for the roster race.

* * *

**Disclaimer: Do ****_not_**** pop you or your buddy's arms out of their sockets! The shoulder is a really sucky joint on a good day so don't mess with it!**


	22. Chapter 22

Tuesday was a wonderful day. The weather was nice and sunny and lots of kids came in to play. Ralph's limbs were still a little achy but he felt much better after Tracy worked on them again after hours.

The three adults made their way to watch the roster race in Sugar Rush. They cheered, whistled, and clapped for their favorite pint-sized president, who came in 1st place, and went down to meet her after the race. "Way to go, Sweetheart!" Felix beamed. Calhoun nodded, resisting telling the girl where she went wrong and how she could have better dominated the track. Ralph grinned and held up a huge fist for a knuckle-bump. "Nice job out there." Vanellope smiled, tapped her fist to his, and wiped some sweat off her brow. "Thanks, guys! So, what's the plan for the rest of the day?"

The giant raised an eyebrow at her. "Plan? Um, I dunno 'bout the rest of you, but I was going to check out that bar game down the strip." The child snorted. "Tapper's is great 'n all, but don't you want to do something a little more exciting, Cap'n Snoozles?" He stifled a yawn, trying to disguise it as a growl. "As a matter of fact, no, I don't. All I wanna do is get a soda, but you can come too. If you want." Vanellope pursed her lips as she considered that option then smiled softly. "Y'know what? That actually sounds like a good plan, Stinkbrain."

Ralph bristled at the name but let it slide. He had noticed right away this girl was a little weird and strange nicknames must be one of her quirks. He turned to the couple. "You guys comin' too?" The Fix-Its looked at each other, nodded subtly, and the little man shook his head politely. "Thanks for the offer, friend, but I think we're gonna head home for the night. Tomorrow sounds peachy keen, if that's alright with you!" He smiled, tipped his hat, and set off up the rainbow bridge with his wife.

The giant realized that without the other two he'd be alone with Penellope and that made him very uncomfortable, but he couldn't come up with a valid or believable reason for them to stay so he let them go. Vanellope watched them leave and waved at their retreating backs.

When they had disappeared into the tunnel she looked at her enormous companion. "Now that they're gone," she said, "I'd actually like to talk to you, Ralph. You left too fast yesterday and I didn't get the chance." He blinked down at her. "Uh, okay. What do you want to talk about?" She bit her lip as she tried to collect her thoughts but was startled by the roar of an engine as a racer drove by. "Hmm," she hummed, "This probably isn't the best place so let's go somewhere else."

"Where are we going, then?"

"Diet Cola Mountain. Just over that way."

He looked into the distance and saw the place she mentioned. "That's awfully far, Pipsqueak, dontchu think?" She laughed. "Well, doy! We're driving there. Hop on."

He eyed the tiny kart nervously. "I dunno, Penellope… It's a little small for me." The racer hopped into the driver's seat and started it up. "Don't worry 'bout it!" she said offhandedly. "You ride up there all the time. Now, come on!" Still apprehensive, he did as he was told and got on the back fin.

Ralph screamed and covered his eyes when they drove straight at the wall of the mountain but relaxed a bit when he realized he wasn't a red smear on the rocks. The cove they found themselves in was warm and there was a soft glow at the end of the tunnel. The Bad Guy looked around wondrously and walked down the path, absorbed in the details around him. "Wait for me!" the little president cried out, and suddenly there was a weight on his shoulder. He looked over and there was Penellope. "How did you get there?" he asked, dumbfounded. "Magic, a'doy," she giggled.

Ralph came into a huge cavern and a pit formed in his stomach when he realized they were in a volcano. "I don't think we should be here, Kid," he gulped, taking a step back. The imp on his shoulder laughed and jumped down. "Don't be such a sissy," she snickered. "Everything will be fine as long as you keep back from the splash." She threw a chunk of peanut brittle at the mentos hanging from the ceiling to prove her point. Boiling hot cola flew up and landed right on the man's toes. "Ouch! Watch it!" he growled. "I warned you, didn't I?" she shrugged.

Vanellope walked over to a little make-shift shelter and sat on a popsicle-stick chair. Ralph could see that there was a hard candy bench that would sit someone about his size. "What is this place?" he muttered under his breath. "It's my hideout," the child answered. "My home away from home. Have a seat." He did so, crossing his fingers that the bench would hold. It did, but the creaking still concerned him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the mentos fall occasionally. "So, what did you want to talk about?" the giant finally asked. The racer chewed on her hoodie strings distractedly. Quietly, she said, "I wanna tell you a story, Ralph. About how we met." He could tell that this was important to her so Ralph let her say her piece.

"I used to be a glitch," she began, "and-"

"Waitwaitwait," he interrupted. "Whadaya mean, 'a glitch'?"

"We're gonna be here forever if you keep butting in!" she scolded, but she teleported a few feet away and back. The wrecker's eyes grew wide but he said nothing.

"Anyway," the girl continued, "I was a glitch and life sucked Crows. Everyone was mean to me and I couldn't even leave. The only thing that kept me going was my gut feeling that I really _did_ belong in the game and I _was_ a racer. I tried to sneak into the roster races lots of times but they always caught me. It went on like this for fifteen years, until one day, when everything changed." She smiled at him. "That was the day I met you."

Vanellope told her friend about finding him in the forest, about the events that led up to them making a kart, and how he destroyed it. Ralph felt a deep sense of shame at this point in the story and rested his head in his hand as he cried silently. 'Why am I crying?' he thought. 'That wasn't me. I'm not the same guy.' His perpetual headache returned and he had to squeeze his eyes shut to block out the pain.

Vanellope was so wrapped in her narrative that she didn't notice his tears. She spoke of how she had been lured out of the mountain and captured, of how he had come back for her, and the race that almost ended with the destruction of Sugar Rush. The girl smiled to herself when she recounted how he had tried to get her out of the game, and when that failed he battled Turbo to turn the mountain into a beacon.

"And the rest is history," she finished. "We've been best friends ever since."

Ralph rested his elbows on his knees and hung his head to hide his face. "Th-that's pretty intense, Penellope."

"Is that all you have to say, Ralphie?" Vanellope giggled. The villain sighed and stared at the column of white candy hanging from the ceiling. "No, I can also say 'it's time to go home,' and it is so let's go." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"This place is makin' me real edgy and it's getting late."

"Yeah, right! It's only, like, 9:30 or somethin', Genius."

He grabbed her around the middle and went to collect the candy vehicle. "No, I'm serious," he continued. "Look, it was nice talking to you and this is a cool hideout but you need to get home." The little president glitched out of his grasp to stand in front of him, glaring. "I can walk myself, thank _you_," she snorted. "Geez Louise, what's got your overalls in a bunch?"

"Look, we can't be friends!" he blurted out. The look of hurt on the child's face made him regret his words, but he had started down this path and by golly he was going to follow through. It was for her own good, after all.

"Why?" Vanellope breathed, too quietly for him to hear, her eyes growing misty. When he said nothing she screeched loudly, "WHY?! What _hare-brained_ idea is rattling around in your stupid head that has you convinced we can't be friends, _huh_?" Ralph pressed his lips together as he took a deep breath and steeled himself. "I'm sorry about what I… what the old Ralph did: almost getting your game unplugged, but I'm not him!" He knelt down to look her in the eye. "Wrecking things is in my programming. If I'm not around you, I can't hurt you or your game. That's why we can't be friends. For your safety." He stood back up and started walking towards the entrance.

"You may not be the same, but you _are_ very similar."

The giant stopped short and pivoted on his heel.

"You're kind of a klutz," the girl continued, "you _really_ need to invest in some breathmints, and you have a short fuse." She walked towards him. "You also have a heart of gold and while you look tough I know you're really a teddy bear. Most of the time." She stopped in front of him. "I know that you would never ever hurt me."

He heaved a sigh and looked away. "You're never going to give up, are you?"

"Not in a million years, Chumbo!"

She stared at her shoes. "I forgave you, y'know," she muttered. "The old you." Surprised, he turned back to her. "Y-you did?" The little racer nodded and wiped away her tears. "Of course. I forgave you a long time ago." She glitched to sit on his shoulder. "Ralph, it was because of you that my life got infinitely better. You restored me to my rightful place in the game. You were the first to believe in me and actually care for me as a person." She rested her head against his. "You were my first friend."

He shook his head. "I don't remember any of that." She growled in frustration, but he held up a finger to stop her from saying anything. "I don't remember, but I'm willing to start over if you can accept me for who I am: a different Ralph. And me being different means I'm going to do things differently than you're used to. Sound like a deal?" He held up a hand for a handshake. Smiling at the role reversal, Vanellope nodded and grabbed one of his digits. "Deal. I'll try to keep it in mind."

* * *

**I'd like to give a big shout-out to Rocky Roster for inspiring this chapter! :D**


	23. Chapter 23

Ralph woke gasping, reeling from his nightmare. This was the fourth night in a row he had been tormented with bad dreams and it was starting to take a toll on the wrecker. He clambered out of his stump to take a walk. He passed the house that was supposedly his and grimaced. The first time the villain went in since his reboot was very unpleasant.

It was after he had gone with the Fix-Its to the roster race on Monday and he had called it a night to get some much needed rest. Ralph found the "magic cupboard" and quickly discovered that if you didn't pull out the item and just closed the door it would disappear. He also figured out that he really didn't know how to prepare anything so made due with a couple dozen peanut butter and sprinkle sandwiches (hey, do what you can with what you got). He managed to find the bedroom and collapsed on the mattress.

The nightmare that he had had the night before returned with a vengeance and the Bad Guy tumbled out of bed, screaming. He had sat on the floor for a second, trying to collect his wits, when in the dim moonlight he saw something hanging on a peg by the door. On closer examination it turned out to be a cookie necklace with "you're my hero" written in white icing on it. Pain exploded behind his eyes as a headache flared and he hasn't been back since.

Ralph shook his head and noticed he had arrived at the tiny lake. Quietly, he settled down on the shore and skipped a few rocks as he tried to recall the details of the dream. It bothered him that he couldn't ever remember it entirely, but some details were starting to come back. This time he remembered someone with black hair.

Felix found him in the morning sleeping peacefully by the water. The little hero smiled as he heard him mumble part of a name: "…nellope."

* * *

Weeks had passed and the four friends had settled into their old routine: work during the day, watch Vanellope race at night, and then game jump somewhere in the arcade for as long as Ralph could stay awake. The nightmares never ceased and now it seemed dark circles were permanently etched under his eyes. The lack of sleep and the continuing headaches were also shortening his already short temper.

After being punched by Calhoun for snapping at Felix for nothing he decided it was best to stay home after hours. Being away from Vanellope, though, only made his temper even worse so that didn't last long.

As time went on, Ralph was slowly coming to the conclusion that his protagonist might be right and he loved Penellope, and that scared him. Why did he love her? She was just a child and him loving her like he thought he did was just wrong on so many levels…! But he just couldn't help himself.

The more time he spent with her the more he noticed there was something about her that didn't match his initial impression of her. Yeah, she was an obnoxious brat a lot of the time but at times she seemed to be many years older and wiser and she just _looked_ like a child. And her eyes, her big hazel eyes, they seemed to speak of an inner strength that no nine year old could ever know.

Well, whatever the case may be, to be safe he abstained from being alone with the tiny racer anymore.

"But why?!" she would howl after he refused to do something with her _again_. "Because," he would retort, "It's not proper for a young girl like you to hang out with an old Bad Guy like me alone."

"Hmph! Proper schmoper! You never used to care about stuff like that."

"I was reset, Penellope! I'm not the Ralph you remember."

She would storm off after each exchange, and each time he would reach out as if to stop her but with nothing to say he would sigh and let her go.

The seventh time they had this fight, Vanellope shut herself up in her office and tired to work. She really did! But the only thing that really happened was that she banged her head on the desk and cried. "Oh, gobstoppers, Ralph," she sniffed pitifully. "Why don't you get it? I just don't wanna lose you again." The president looked at the clock and saw that a couple of hours had passed. "Maybe a drink at Tapper's will do me some good." She arrived at the saloon and sat down gloomily. The soda-jerk brought her a drink but was too busy to stop and chat. The girl was so wrapped up in her depression she didn't notice anything around her.

* * *

"And now I don't know what to do," Ralph concluded. He was sitting at the bar in Root Beer Tapper with Zangief. The wrestler had discovered the wrecker wandering aimlessly in Game Central Station looking quite distraught and decided it was time to make new friends with his old pal. Just like with Fernando , Ralph found himself trusting the Russian and so vented about his frustrations with Penellope.

Zangief nodded and hummed, "That does sound troubling, tovarishch, and I see where you are coming from, but have you considered where _she_ is coming from?" Ralph stared at the countertop and blushed. "Whadaya mean?" he mumbled. His companion chuckled, "I don't mean to rub the past in your face, Ralph, but we were friends before you, uh, 'checked out', I suppose the children say these days. Little Vanellope was all you could talk about and it was very apparent you were quite close with her. I think she just wants her dorogoy back."

The wrecker sighed and stared at the ceiling. "That's the problem, Zeke," he groaned. "I'm _not_ her drag... way...? Whatever. I'm different, she knows that, but she always seems to 'forget' that and it's just another reminder that I'm not who she wants me to be and- and-" He slammed his fist down, cracking the polished wood. "And it hurts you all the more," Zangief finished sympathetically. Ralph glowered and nodded.

"What's going on here?" a soft voice asked.

The men turned to see Sorceress floating behind them and smiling. "Ah, Koldun'ya, my friend! Come sit with us." She sat next to Ralph and caught the mug of soda Tapper slid her way. "Thanks, Tapper! Now, what's got Ralph's overalls in a twist?"

"Nothing"/"Girl trouble" they said at the same time.

The blue elf snickered. "Really, Ralph? That's surprising. Do I know her?" She held up her hand to stop his panicked stammering. "Never mind. I want to guess! Is she pretty?" The blush on his cheeks was all the answer she needed. "Is she tall?" This continued for a few minutes. Some of the questions were dead on, but others were downright ridiculous. 'Does she have striped skin?' he mused, 'She gotta be toyin' with me…' Finally, Sorceress leaned over and whispered flirtatiously, "Is it Vanellope?" Ralph did a double take and blushed dark red from head to toe.

The vixen giggled and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. The question is: how are you going to fix your problem?" The wrecker exhaled slowly as he tried to keep from snapping at her. "I don't know. She wants to hang out with just me, but I don't think that's a good idea." Sorceress nodded affirmation. "You're just trying to protect both of you. That makes sense. Perhaps this is an excellent time for a compromise. Y'know- hang out with just her but you're in charge of where you guys go and how long you're out. Meet her halfway."

Ralph rubbed the back of his neck and smiled a tiny grin. "Thanks, Enchantress. That helps a bit." He became serious. "But she's still mad at me _now_. How do I fix that?" She laughed softly and pointed a finger at him matter-of-factly. "You swallow your pride and apologize. Flowers might help too."

"I dunno. She's not real girly-girly."

"All girls like to get flowers at least once in their lives." She got up and started tugging on his wrist. "C'mon. I have some really nice plants growing at home. I can help you put something toge-"

"HEY!"

Everyone turned around and Ralph blanched. Penellope was standing there and she did _not_ look happy.

* * *

Vanellope had worked her way through three big flagons of soda and now her extremely full belly was causing her to fall asleep. She put her head down for a second to rest when a loud bang made her jump. The girl looked around frantically and caught sight of a big red something in the back. Shaking her head to clear the daze, she discerned that it was none other than Ralph and he looked upset, to say the least.

The racer was just about to get up and head over when she saw that a blue elf woman was already there. Her heart rose to her throat when she realized that it was Sorceress from Bad-Anon. Could she be the reason Ralph didn't want to spend time with her anymore? She decided to wait and see what happened, remembering the disaster that happened the last time she jumped to conclusions where Ralph's intentions were concerned.

Vanellope's blood began to boil as she watched the two of them talk and then Sorceress whispered in his ear. She was starting to see red and when the offending woman started to pull him up and something inside of her snapped, causing her to lose all rationality. The girl glitched down to the floor and stalked over to give them a piece of her mind.

"HEY!"

Everyone looked at her and she could see that Ralph knew he was in trouble. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as she addressed her "best friend".

"So," she said, dangerously calm, "this is what you would rather do than hang out with your best friend. Well, it's nice to know you value our friendship so much." The traitorous Bad Guy got off the stool he was sitting on and knelt down to plead with her. "This isn't what it looks like, Penny. Really! I was just-"

"You've called me some pretty insulting names, Ralph," Vanellope interrupted, "and they were all supposed to be jokes, but _that_ is _the_ most insulting and hurtful name you have _ever_ called me!" She turned on her heel and started to leave when she felt a small hand on her shoulder. "Vanellope," Sorceress turned her around to look her in the eye, "You don't have anything to worry about, I promise." Vanellope roughly pushed her hand off. "You bet your bubble gum, I don't!" she snarled uncharacteristically. "He's all yours!" She glitched as far as she could to escape onto the train that would take her away from this awful place.

Ralph chased after her. He may not have known her for long, but he _did _know that that tiny girl could make some big trouble when she was upset. He skidded to a halt just as he saw the tram disappear into the dark tunnel. "No! Penellope!" He dropped down onto a bench to wait for the trolley to come back and ran his hand through his hair. "Can this day get any worse?" he moaned, closing his eyes.

Someone sat on the bench next to him with a creak and something was tickling his arm. The wrecker looked around to see Zachary and Witch there with him. "Do not worry, Ralph," the wrestler said. "We will help you find her." The woman nodded and smiled apologetically. "Us Baddies gotta stick together," she added. Ralph smiled weakly. "Thanks, guys."

* * *

When the three villains finally made it back to GCS, there was no sign of Vanellope. They walked out of the port and the inevitable buzz of a security check sounded.

"Names?" Surge droned.

An idea struck Ralph. "Wreck-It Ralph. Hey, uh, Sparky?" The Surge Protector bristled. "Sparky…?" Ralph ran his hand through his hair again, agitated. "Sorry," he said tersely, "I'm not too good with names right now. Look, have you seen a little girl come through here? Black hair, probably has a candy go-kart, answers to the name of-"

"Vanellope," Zangief and Sorceress interjected.

"Right," he nodded. "Have you seen her?" Surge pushed up his glasses and pointed down the station with his pen. "Sure have. She came tearin' out of here and made a bee-line for Hero's Duty." He turned back to the stunned party. "If you're going after her, tell her that if she drives recklessly through the station like that again I'm going to suspend her inter-game travel privileges!" The blue man disappeared in a flash.

Ralph stood there blinking and thought about what he needed to do. "Alright, you two," he said, wringing his hands anxiously. "I'm goin' after her. I can't ask ya to come with me so I'm not gonna." He held up a massive hand to stop them from objecting. "I need you to stay here in case she comes back. Or better yet, go get my game's hero. He's married to the Sergeant." He looked down the great hall apprehensively and back at them. "Thanks for trying to help me." Without another word, the giant took off.

* * *

**There's some more Russian for you :) Koldun'ya is the phonetic spelling of колдунья and means sorceress :D**


	24. Chapter 24

Vanellope's hair whipped about in the turbulent air and she tried to scrub away the tears stinging her eyes with one hand. She was too devastated at what had transpired to say or even think about anything but how much she hurt inside. The kart burst out of the tunnel, she slammed on the brakes, and screeched to a halt. "What was that?" a deep voice asked.

The girl's brain shorted out and she panicked. The loud background music and echoing tunnels made it hard to tell where the voice had come from so she threw her vehicle in gear and gunned it down the main passageway.

"Up ahead!"

Drat! She had picked the wrong path. Vanellope turned the corner and came face-to-face with a group of marines in front of a huge metal door. "Sweet mother of monkey milk!" she screamed, glitching to avoid colliding with them. The kart rerendered in the middle of the door. "Oh, come ON!" she shouted angrily.

For some reason, she was unable to casually pop out so she poured more energy into one more try. The go-kart came free, but the extra energy rippled through the gate and caused it to malfunction. Vanellope didn't notice. She was already speeding down the desolate landscape.

* * *

The bullet train pulled into the shooter game and Ralph tried to force his way out of the doors before they were even a quarter of the way open. When he was free he stumbled out and looked around. There were two passageways; a big one and a smaller one. There were no signs telling where they led.

"Alright," he reasoned, "if I was trying to hide from someone I would get off the beaten path. Let's hope she thought that too!" He ran down the smaller tunnel and came to what looked like a base. There was someone on top of a watch tower so he waved his arms frantically to catch their attention. The marine on guard duty noticed him and climbed down to meet him. It was Johnson, one of the younger soldiers.

"Hey, Wreck-It," he greeted genially, "what brings you here?"

"No time for chit-chat, bud. You know that little girl that's always with me?"

"Vanellope?"

"Yeah, her. Have you seen her?"

Johnson snickered. "Did you check your backside? You mighta sat on her."

Ralph stomped a foot angrily and snarled, "It's not funny, ya baby-faced dingus! She's mad at me so she's not thinkin' straight and she ran in here somewhere. Now, HAVE YOU SEEN HER?!" The soldier took a step back and gripped his gun for reassurance. "N-no, I haven't. I've been stuck here all night and _no_ one has come this way."

The wrecker let his head fall back in despair and groaned, "Aw, no! That means she went down the other way!" Johnson stiffened. "The other way? As in the way to the game field? Oh, this is NOT good!" He grabbed the radio unit from his belt and tried to contact someone. "Kohut, this is Johnson. Do you read me? Over." The radio buzzed and a deep voice crackled through, "Johnson, this is Kohut. I read you loud and clear. What's the situation? Over."

"I've got Wreck-It Ralph with me and he's lookin' for that kid he's usually with. Y'know, Vanellope? Did she come down your way?" Kohut took longer to reply this time which did not help Ralph's frazzled nerves. "I think she did. Something colorful flashed in front of us as we left the field and we heard a kid's voice."

Ralph didn't bother to hear the rest of the transmission and ran back the way he had come. His leg muscles were burning from the strain of running so far for so long, but he really didn't care. Nothing else mattered but making sure that girl was okay. He burst out of the base tunnel just as he saw Caity and Fillip appear out of the power tunnel on her cruiser. "Ralph, what's going on?" the hero shouted over the engine. "No time!" the villain shouted back. "The kid's in the game somewhere alone!" The three of them headed down the main passageway. They rounded the corner and ran headlong into Kohut and his squad. "Sarge! Thank the programmers you're here!"

Calhoun jumped down and immediately took control of the situation. "Alright, people! We have a civilian unescorted in our game and I wanna know why no one is goin' after her!" Kohut saluted then motioned to the door behind them. "Sir! We can't follow the kid. The door is stuck." A very irate Tamora grabbed the front of his armor and pulled him down to her level. "Explain," she hissed. "I'm not sure what happened, but the door won't open. We have reason to believe that when Vanellope glitched through the door she didn't make it all the way and somehow caused the door to malfunction upon freeing herself." She roughly shoved him away. "What makes you think she glitched half-way?"

Someone muttered in the back, "Well, havin' her tail pipe in our faces kinda helps."

"Shut up, Loya!" Calhoun shouted. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Thinking of no other solution, the woman walked over to the side of the door and pried up a hidden panel to reveal a sensor. She took off her glove and put her hand on the scanner and spoke aloud, "Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun. Serial number two one one echo bravo three four five nine zero two two. Command: override door lock. Execute: open door." The door mechanisms groaned and whirred as they tried to perform the command, but were unable to open. "Alright, Pussywillows. We need to get a read on where Sugar Troll might be. Kohut, get Smith on the line. Tell him to scan the field and report back-"

Ralph didn't hear her shout out more orders to her men. He was focused on the portal in front of him. This is what was barring him from Penellope so he had to remove it somehow. He put a fist up on the middle of the entrance and looked it over to make sure this was the right spot. Satisfied, he walked back to the curve in the path, spun on his heel, and charged; ham-fist raised and shouting a battle cry. He was able to get in one punch, which bruised his knuckles, before five or six of the marines tackled him and brought him to the ground.

"Let me GO!" he snarled. "Lemme go, or I'm gonna-" Goosh! Calhoun splashed him with water from someone's canteen and squatted down to look at him. "Gonna 'what', Pansy? Gonna getcherself killed, that's what! You are especially vulnerable here, and that's not going to help Vanellope one bit!" The wrecker glared at her. "Then what do you suggest, Joan of Arcade?" The soldier grinned wickedly at him. "I suggest you suit up."

* * *

They were in a warehouse next to the barracks watching Ralph put on armor.

"I don't know what possessed them to do it, but the guys in R&D made this for you because of the Sugar Rush incident." Sarge said, arms crossed indifferently.

A thin man, Smith was his name, shrugged and laughed. "Can you blame us, Sarge? When we heard about the living mountain that could wipe out a cy-bug in one punch, we wanted to see what would happen when we powered him up!" He turned to the wrecker as he put on the huge gloves. "We designed this armor for hand-to-hand combat, but we ended up needing to create a new type of metal to take the strain of the force behind your punches."

"There's more than one type?" Ralph asked. His only real experience with metal was steel.

"Oh sure! There's your standard pure metals and alloys: iron, copper, steel, the works. Our armor is a steel/Kevlar blend for strength and mobility. _Your _armor, on the other hand, is something entirely new. We call it 'wreckim'!" he said, beaming. The giant blushed, not sure he should be honored or not. He shook his head and grabbed the helmet. "So what's so great about this fancy armor, anyway? As far as I can tell, it only fits better than Markowski's did."

Indeed, the dimensions of the suit were tailored for Ralph's unique shape. The arms were longer, the legs shorter, the boots wider, and the chest plate was more barrel shaped. It was also segmented to allow for a greater range of motion. The helmet was bigger so his head actually fit.

The Fix-Its subtly gave each other a questioning look. "Do you think he's starting to remember?" Felix said out of the corner of his mouth. "I don't know," Tammy whispered. "Let's see what happens." She turned back to the giant. "When were you in Markowski's armor, Wreck-It?" Ralph grimaced as his headache suddenly flared, worse than ever. "Was I? It's weird, but I'm sure I've never worn anything but my usual clothes! And yet…" he trailed off.

The scientist rubbed his hands gleefully, much like a kid in a candy store. "Let me tell ya, buddy, this stuff is AWESOME! We knew you specialized in punching- how many Newtons of force do you generate anyway?" He was met with a blank stare. "You dunno! That's okay." Smith was too caught up in his excitement to notice Ralph had leaned over to whisper "I thought a 'Newton' was a fig cookie" to Felix, who shrugged, equally bewildered. "We estimated it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 3200 N anyway, way more than our standard armor can take, so the wreckim make up covers that."

He grabbed the helmet. "You also get the privilege of being our guinea pig. The helmet has a new system interface that allows the use of 'Stealth Mode'- the button to turn it on is here- along with the standard helmet functions, and the visor has a built in light filter. Keeps you from goin' blind when looking at another of our toys."

"Blind?!"

The scientist laughed like he had just asked about the weather and grabbed a large metal disk, strapping it to the giant's back. "Makes sense. This is a prototype for a mini beacon. For emergencies, especially outside Hero's Duty. You just throw it to the ground and it activates. The handles help you grab it or put it back on. There's a docking hook for it on your back. It's only a ridiculously bright lamp, so you still have to kill the bugs, but now they won't be trying to eat your face!"

He walked over to a work bench and grabbed a backpack looking thing. "Last bit of hardware, then you're off! This is just a bigger version of Sarge's hoverboard. Nothin' major." Ralph nodded, grabbed it, and slung it over his shoulder. "Thanks for everything."

He turned and made his way to the door, only to be stopped as Felix and Calhoun stepped in his path. "Guys, I can't stay any longer! That girl's been out there too long and-" Felix held up a hand. "We know, brother! We just wanted to wish you good luck!" His wife nodded. "We programmed the coordinates of where Vanellope was last detected into your computer so just follow the compass. She's in a heavily infested area, but the cy-bugs are always dormant unless disturbed. It's a tight area so you're goin' in alone. Another squad will follow behind you to provide cover fire in case you wake somethin' up. We'll maintain radio contact with you, so let us know when you got 'er and if we need to fire up the big beacon."

The Bad Guy nodded, saluted half-heartedly, and was gone.

* * *

**I don't know if that's really his name, but if you want to know who I mean by Johnson watch the scene where Felix meets Calhoun. One of the soldiers is holding a mini gun (which is huge. Why are they called mini guns anyway?) and asks "Did you see Markowski today?" That's him! I made Smith up...**


	25. Chapter 25

Ralph made short work of the gate leading to the playing field. "Wow, this armor stuff is great!" he smiled as he shook out his hand. "Alright," he mused, "she said 'follow the compass'. What compass?"

As if on command, a mini map popped up in the center of his visor. A dot with a cone was exactly in the middle and a compass needle pointed north-east. When the villain rotated himself, the needle rotated too. He moved 'til it was pointing due "north".

"I'm comin', Kid," he huffed, "just wait for me." The man threw down the board and after a few shaky seconds was able to head off in the direction indicated.

* * *

Vanellope slumped in the seat of her kart, exhausted from crying so much. She had taken refuge in a little cave she had found in a slot canyon and this seemed like a good place to hide. It was secluded, it was quiet… ish, and the soft glow of some moss in the back was kind of comforting.

"Sarge was right," she croaked. "Love is a battlefield and I lost the war. Why did the programmers hafta make me a kid?!" She hopped out to sit on her back spoiler. "Why does life have to suck so much?" she sniffed.

Absentmindedly, the girl started to tear up chunks of the wafer fin and threw them at the bits of moss. A thunk was heard and she got down to investigate. She discovered that she had knocked down a mossy chunk of the wall. Sighing and staring at the ground, Vanellope was just about to sit on the fin again, when the rock glowed brightly and dissolved. Her pupils shrank as she realized that the rock wasn't a rock. It was a cy-bug egg and she had hatched a baby. "Oh boy," she squeaked, trying to inconspicuously slide back into the kart.

Unfortunately, she kicked a small stone and it clattered behind her. The baby bug turned towards the sound, spotted her, and flew at her face. The racer shrieked, glitched out of the way, and landed awkwardly in the kart. "Ow," she groaned. The bug leaped into the air again and she grabbed the closest thing she could: the gear-shift. Vanellope pulled it out, swung clumsily, and knocked her assailant to the side. "Alright, Bug Butt," she growled as she climbed onto the back of the vehicle, "come at me!"

The creature jumped a third time and she swung her make-shift bat.

_Thwack!_

It went sailing and hit the back wall. Alas, the impact of the attack shattered her weapon and only means of escape.

"Oh, no! Nonono!"

She dropped the useless item and frantically searched for something, _any_thing else to defend herself with, but there was nothing. A burst of light at the back of the cave alerted her to the awakening of several more babies. She was doomed if she stayed any longer so she grabbed the emergency pack she had hidden under her seat since her little World Tour escapade: a bag of Starbursts and a slingshot. The girl threw herself out of the cave just as the swarm started consuming her kart.

The ravine she was in seemed to go on forever in either direction, but she could see the bleak sky above her so she started to glitch-climb up the walls. It seemed like hours later (but was only several minutes) when Vanellope shakily pulled herself out of the chasm, clutching her sides to keep the contents of her stomach where they belonged. She flopped to the ground, gasping, until a mechanical screech reminded her that she needed to keep moving.

The exhausted child sat up, fitted a candy in the slingshot, and fired straight up. A pink streak of light whistled as it sailed up and exploded in a shower of sugar particles. Vanellope heaved herself up and shambled away, occasionally glitching to put more distance between her and imminent death.

* * *

Ralph looked around as he flew through the air, looking for any sign of his missing friend. Just below him he could see the start of a very narrow canyon so went to investigate it. His blood turned to ice when he discovered tire tracks heading down the path. What worried him most was that the tracks would disappear for a bit and reappear further along. "She must be glitching to get through here," he said. "Now, how do I work the radio?"

Again, as if on command, his helmet acted on it's own and on his visor 'calling HQ' popped up.

"Wreck-It!" Calhoun's voice came crackling over the intercom. "Good to hear from you, soldier. What's the situation?" The Bad Guy gulped as he tried to push away his mounting fears. "I'm not sure," he replied. "I found tire tracks leading into a canyon and I'm sure they belong to Penellope's kart. Have you found anything on your scanners?"

"Negative," she sighed. "She's in that area but that's all I can tell you. Yer just gonna hafta keep looking. Good work." Suddenly, something exploded far off in the distance. The giant whipped his head in the direction it had come from and realized it was coming from the top of the chasm. "Are any of your men nearby, Sarge?"

"Negative, Wreck-It. They're all still several kilometers behind you."

He climbed back on the hoverboard and rose into the air. In the sky were the glittering remains of a pink something. "I don't know what a kilometer is, but I think I found her," Ralph sighed in relief. A tiny yellow explosion confirmed his hunch. "I'm goin' in!" Activating the stealth mode, he charged at the swarm of bugs that were spilling out of the ravine.

* * *

Vanellope reached for another Starburst as the last one dissipated. The light they gave off was enough to attract the now fully grown candy-coated bugs so she was using them as a distraction, hoping to buy herself enough time to get away. It was a good plan, but she was running out of candy already and all that glitching had drained her. It was all she could do to hold her shape together. Hopefully someone would see her signals and rescue- save- HELP her.

As she frantically searched the satchel for more ammo the desperate president didn't keep an eye on her surroundings and tripped over a large rock. She threw out her hands to catch herself but it was no good. Vanellope crashed to the ground, ankle and both wrists throbbing. Free of the thrall of the sweets in the sky, the cy-bugs swarmed towards her.

The child curled up in a ball to be a much smaller target and screamed at the top of her lungs, "RALPH!"

**_BOOOOM!_**

* * *

Faster and faster Ralph flew, desperately raking the ground with his eyes as he searched for the tiny girl through the hazy, ashy air. There! He could just make out her little figure running haphazardly and shooting more of the colored lights. As soon as he saw her, searing pain burned through his head and blinded him. "**_AAAAUUUGGGHH!_**" he screamed as he futilely clutched his helmet.

The wrecker lost control of the cruiser and plummeted to the earth. It felt like something hot was trying to push it's way through his brain. Because he was powerless to stop it, the something surfaced in front of his eyes in the form of a vision. Two scenes were superimposed on each other: Penellope standing alone and surrounded by cy-bugs in a darkened Sugar Rush and in a place that can only be seen in a nightmare. "No! Not her! It's my fault; take me instead!" he cried out, unsure if he was really speaking or if it was in the dream.

Reality filtered through the pain and Ralph knew with every bit of his code that this was the nightmare that had haunted him for so long, brought on by this memory. This time, though, he could and _would_ do something. His sight cleared and he wrestled the cruiser back under control seconds before he became a metal plated pancake.

Back on track, the villain sped towards the mass of mechanical insects and jumped to the ground when he was right above them, fist first for a mighty ground pound.

**_BOOOOM!_**

Slowly, the Bad Guy rose up from the crater and cracked his neck, fierce snarl on his lips. "I'm gonna wreck it!" he shouted. As he punched every bug that made the mistake of getting too close, one thought was constantly present in his mind: protect Penellope.

* * *

The ground shook as something landed and if she had been standing Vanellope would have been thrown down by the shockwave. She tried to peer through the dust cloud, but there was nothing there. She heard someone shout "I'm gonna wreck it!" and her heart stopped. Was Ralph really here?

The cloud slowly drifted apart, but there was no one. In the face of danger, she must have imagined she heard her hero and now she was gonna- Waitaminute! A cy-bug spontaneously exploded! More and more bugs disappeared in a burst of slime and slowly the outline of something came into view. An invisible soldier was beating the monsters down with his fists!

The girl pushed herself up with some difficulty into a sitting position. "Thanks for joining the party, Space Cadet!" she hollered, which distracted her savior and allowed the bugs to overwhelm him. "Aw, skittles... Hold on!" Biting her bottom lip against the zing of pain, she fired a green Starburst immediately followed by an orange and then another pink one over the hoard.

The soldier flickered and became visible. He threw off the mesmerized cy-bugs, ran to her, and scooped her up. Immediately she could tell he was in bad shape: his helmet was dented, he was limping slightly, and somehow the bugs had gotten through his body armor and sliced his shoulder to ribbons. Red plaid peeked out at her, and if she had any doubts as to the identity of her rescuer she wouldn't now. "You came back for me," she croaked. It was hard to tell, the sound was all garbled, but she thought she heard him say "Always".

Vanellope wriggled up to his uninjured arm to make sure they were in the clear and ducked back down, shivering. "Ralph! We got company!" Ralph skidded to a halt and, still clutching the child, reached up to grab the large metal disk on his back. He threw it like a Frisbee and put a massive hand over her eyes as they continued their escape. "What was that?" she yelled over the whistling wind. "Beacon," was the distorted reply.

The land sloped downwards and at the mouth of the canyon a ship was waiting where some other marines motioned for them to hurry and get inside. They were barely in when the ship took off, the squadron firing at the docile mutants. Ralph carefully sat on a bench, still holding Vanellope with one hand and trying to take off his gear with the other. A mousy man came over to help, whimpering something about "shoulda known something would get broken".

The girl gasped in horror: the blow that dented the helmet had damaged Ralph's face and now he had a huge bruise blooming over one eye and cheek and a very bloody nose. The giant wiped some of the blood away with the back of his wrist and smiled a small smile. "Don't worry, Kid. I'll be fine."

He frowned, opened his mouth to say something else, and decided against it. Penellope didn't need him yelling at her now. That could wait 'til they got patched up and she was safe at home.

Now that her adrenaline rush was gone, fatigue blanketed Vanellope and she struggled to remain conscious. She hauled herself up, kissed her hero's good cheek, and, with a whispered "Thank you", fainted in a flash of blue pixels.


	26. Chapter 26

Vanellope stirred, relishing the warmth and familiar feel of whatever she was laying on. "Ralph? You okay, Stinkbrain?" she yawned. She was disappointed to find that she wasn't lying on Ralph's chest, but on his spare shirt in her bed.

She was home? How did that happen?

The young president flopped onto her back, staring at the ceiling and trying to recall how she got here. She had run away to Calhoun's game to talk/cry, but had freaked out and ended up on the game-play field instead. She hid in the canyon and accidentally hatched some eggs with resulted in her kart getting eaten.

She blushed when she recounted how Ralph had come to save her and looked real bad mamma-jamma in that armor, but after that it was a blank. Her body flickered and she presumed she hadn't been sleeping long enough to recharge. She heard voices coming up from a vent. This must have been what woke her.

The imp climbed out of bed as quietly as possible when she heard her name mentioned, barely noticing that her wrists and ankle had been healed, and put her ear to the duct.

"-Duty?"

"I'm not sure. The only thing Ralph said was that she was mad at him and he clammed up after that."

"I think I might know. Sorceress said Vanellope saw them at Tapper's place and jumped to conclusions."

"That must be why she went to your game, dear: to talk to you."

"Oh, speaking of Tapper, he brought this over."

Everything went quiet down there so the eavesdropper got up. She could hear Felix, Calhoun, and Sour Bill, but where was Ralph? As silently as possible she exited her room to search for him. Down the hall in the guest wing of the castle one of the doors was closed and that seemed like a good place to start.

When she looked inside she could tell this was it. The room was dark and there was a large something breathing. Vanellope walked over and was just able to make out Ralph's unbruised face in the faint light. He was sleeping with his mouth partially open and he looked more at rest than he had in a long time.

The little racer pulled up a chair to sit by the edge of the brownie bed and leaned over to clasp one of his fingers. "Thanks for having my back, Ralphie," she whispered. Unable to hold her head up any longer, she let it fall and dozed off.

It wasn't long before she was woken again, this time by frantic mumbling interjected by whimpers. The girl shook her head to clear the fog and saw that her friend had a dark look on his face and his muttering was getting louder. "Ralph," she squeaked, "it's okay! It's just a nightmare. Wake up!" Ralph thrashed and put a fist through a wall into the next room. Vanellope decided this was beyond her so she left to get help.

She had just come to the top of the staircase when Calhoun and Felix dashed into the hall below. "Jiminy jaminy, Vanellope! What's goin' on?" Felix gasped. The child turned tail and ran back the way she had come. "Ralph's gonna wreck the whole place if you don't help me wake 'im up!" she called over her shoulder. The Fix-Its hurried after, close on her heels.

The three of them burst into the Bad Guy's room and hugged the edges to avoid being punched by the now upright (but still asleep) villain. "C'mon!" he shouted. "One more. _One_ more!" He made as if to punch the ground. Vanellope crossed her fingers that she could hold it together long enough, leapt up, and glitched the both of them a few feet in the air. The momentum of Ralph's punch caused him to somersault and land on his back, knocking the wind out of him. Vanellope was thrown safely onto the bed.

"Nice job, Sweetie!" the handyman cheered. She smiled and shakily joined him and his wife. "Good thinkin', Kid," the soldier smirked. Now fully awake, Ralph groaned and unsteadily got to his feet. "Ugh. What happened?"

"Cavatina here woke you up before you had to build her a new castle." the woman said. Vanellope snorted with laughter, "I'd let him build me a castle only if I wanted one that would collapse faster than wet cotton candy!" The giant rolled his eyes and held up a hand as the curtains were opened. Squinting to see better, he looked over at his smallest friend to thank her when he was suddenly blinded by the worst pain he had ever felt.

Ralph screamed in agony as his skull seemed to split in half and fell into a half crouch, clutching his head. "Ralph!" Felix and Vanellope cried out simultaneously. They charged forward to help the villain, somehow, but were stopped short by Calhoun. "Wait a minute, you two," she said cautiously. "Look."

They looked closer and could see that Ralph appeared to be glowing and sparkles radiated out from the tips of his wild hair. They stared at him in shock. "Felix, what's happening?" the girl croaked. "I- I'm not sure, Sweet Pea, but it looks like his code is resetting!" She dropped to her knees, anguish on her face.

Ralph stopped screaming and the light dissipated. He swayed a bit, shook his head, and looked up. "Vanellope?" he asked softly, "Is that you, Crumb Snatcher?" Anguish became hope as she said with a teary smile, "You know my name!" He smiled that crooked, gap-toothed smile she loved. "I _remember_ you, Kid." Ralph hadn't been reset again, he had been restored!

In an instant the girl was up and threw herself at him, sobbing and holding his face in her tiny hands. He caught her and put his enormous hand over one of hers, letting his own happy tears well up. Now he knew why he loved this girl and relished the feeling of wholeness she gave him.

Felix laughed boisterously, sprung up to kiss his wife on the cheek, and rushed over. "Ralph, you remember me, brother?"

"Sure do, Felix. And you too, Sarge. It's still kind of foggy, but I remember some things from before I was reset. I remember the terror of sneaking into your game the first time, Calhoun, but I also remember the respect I felt seeing you defend the citizens of Sugar Rush from cy-bugs. Felix, I remember the anger and hurt of being neglected for so long, but I also remember how good it felt to let go of my jealousy. I remember being at your wedding. And Vanellope, I remember the rage and desperation after you stole my medal. I remember that you and I were not so different, and I regret hurting you and all the trouble I caused. Most importantly, I remember that I love you with all my heart, Princess Fartfeathers."

"It's 'president'!"

"Sorry. You're gonna hafta help me fill in the blanks."

She scrubbed her eyes, trying to clear the tears of joy. "I can do that, Stinkbrain." She hugged his neck tightly.

Tammy sat on the bed with a sigh. "Man, I'm gettin' tired of all this drama! How did you manage to recall your memory, Junkpile?" He shook his head. "I'm not sure. I finally remembered that nightmare I've been having for so long and I guess that unlocked my memories." He stood up, girl still hanging off his neck like a necklace. "Or maybe that antiviral thing actually worked," he finished lamely.

The man jostled the child playfully. "Hey, Boogerface, stop cryin'. Yer getting snot on my shirt." She sniggered and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Sorry 'bout that, Chumbo. Hey, I need to ask you 'bout something." He looked at her quizzically. What could he possibly know that she didn't? "Define 'love' for me. Someone once told me there's different kinds an' I wanna make sure we're on the same page." The wrecker was taken aback. How does one put feelings into words? Especially feeling he shouldn't be having in the first place? Mentally, he berated himself, 'Shouldn't have said I love her. I'm just gonna hurt her again.'

He set her down and looked anywhere but at her wide eyes. "I can't answer that question, Kid," he said softly.

"Can't? Or won't?"

They all turned to face Calhoun. The soldier walked up to Ralph and punched him square in the jaw, knocking him down. In a flash he was up again with his own fists raised should she decide to tenderize his face again. His attacker only snorted and pointed at the girl. "Answer her! She's old enough to hear the truth."

"Newsflash: she's nine. A kid! Even if I admitted I loved her like that, which I won't, it could never happen." Ralph got angrier and angrier. "The Bad Guy never gets the girl, especially not the princess! Vanellope doesn't belong with me, no matter how I love her." Hot, angry tears came unbidden to his eyes, but now that the lid was off the villain couldn't stop himself. "It's probably just infatuation, anyway, and I'm not gonna let my cursory emotions stand in her way of finding _real_ love with someone her own age. Her an' me would just be wrong no matter how you slice it…"

Neither of them noticed the girl in question getting closer until she was able to reach up and tap Ralph's knee. "You know, Rhonda, I can make my own decisions. Everyone seems to be forgetting the fact that I've had to live a grown-up's life for so long." She climbed up his arm to sit on his shoulder. "I'm also the leader of an entire game. If that doesn't age someone, I don't know what will! Living a grown-up life means I feel grown-up feelings, and don't my feelings matter too here? I don't wanna be a kid anymore, not if it means no one will take me seriously."

She reached over to dry his tears, but the wrecker stopped her. "Kid, there's nothin' we can do to change the fact that you're a _kid_ and most people don't look too kindly on adult/child romantic attachments. I'm sorry, but I won't drag you through the mud like that." In one swift motion, he pulled Vanellope's hood over her eyes, dropped her on the floor, and barreled through the double doors that opened onto a balcony. He jumped and started running as soon as he hit the ground below.

Disorientated, the girl struggled to get her hood off. When she was finally free, she saw how far her hero had gone and despair overwhelmed her. Vanellope dropped to her knees again, weeping. Her glitch acted up as her low energy levels took their toll. Calhoun picked her up and brushed her off. "Don't just stand there! Go get 'im!"

"I c-c-can't!" she wailed. "Ralph is too fast, cy-bugs ate my kart, and I don't have the energy to glitch that far! Even if I did, he won't listen! I'm just a kid an' that's all I'll ever be."

Calhoun growled in frustration, "Think, Vanellope! You got friends here who want to help you, so what can we do?" The girl wiped away the tears, noticing that Calhoun was trying to hint at the board she had. "I'd ask you if I could borrow that, but that still doesn't change the fact that I'm a kid." She took a gulping breath as she tried to stop the sadness from overcoming her again.

The woman just threw down her hoverboard. "You let me worry 'bout that. Just go get the idiot and remember to scream real loud at the right moment." The little racer eyed the board like it was going to bite her. "What can you do and what's the right moment?" The soldier picked her up and plunked her on the craft. "You'll know it when you feel it. Now go!" The engine powered up and off she went, holding on for dear life.

Tammy nodded as she watched the girl disappear into the distance and then turned to see that Sour Bill had joined Felix in the doorway. "Looks like we got a job to do, you two. Let's move out!"


	27. Chapter 27

Ralph couldn't see through the watery veil over his eyes so he was running blindly through Candy Cane Forest. Everything hurt. His legs burned from running so fast and for so long, his lungs screamed for oxygen. It was his heart, though, that hurt the most from what he had done. The Bad Guy knew it was necessary, but he wished his heart would just tear itself in two and be done with it. Howling out his pain, Ralph charged farther into the grove and destroyed everything in his path.

Unbeknownst to him, Vanellope was catching up.

"There he is! I hope he can hear me." She swooped down lower to be heard over the rushing air. "Ralph! Ralph, stop!" He didn't seem to hear her, so she got in even closer. Vanellope was so focused on speeding up that she didn't notice she was in range of Ralph's rapidly swinging arms. Time appeared to slow down as she realized this dilemma a little too late. She saw his elbow clip the underside of the board. It was just enough to change its flight path and damage the internal rudder. She zoomed up at a steep angle, barely able to hold on, unable to correct her new path, and screaming for help.

The contact with the craft and the scream were enough to make the man look up in time to see the girl in trouble and heading higher. In the heat of the moment, Ralph had slowed down enough that he didn't have the momentum to break the trees he was running into and crashed. Groaning, he held his head and tried to blink away the stars behind his eyes. Another shrill scream pulled his attention upwards to see that Vanellope had somehow fallen off the hoverboard and was now plummeting to the ground. "Vanellope! NO!" The giant scrambled to get up and rushed to catch her. Constantly keeping her within his sights, Ralph aligned himself to be directly underneath her.

_Plop!_

She fell into his waiting hands, almost being dropped again when she didn't quite fit in his palms. Ralph stood there, jaw on the ground. This couldn't be Vanellope, yet there was no mistaking it was her. She had the same jellybean nose, big ears, and dirty hair. Heck, she even had the same outfit! But she wasn't a kid anymore; somehow, he was holding a young woman. The wrecker stopped breathing, he was so shocked.

The female in question was lying on her back, hand clutching her chest, and gasping for air. After her breathing slowed, she was able to push herself up, slide onto one palm, and grin. "Oh, good. You stopped. Nice catch, Gladys." This was enough to snap Ralph out of his stupor. He dropped the woman and backed into a tree. "H-h-how is this possible?"

She groaned and rubbed her aching tailbone. "I'm not entirely sure. Sgt. Shoot-em-up said 'leave it to me' and to get you. Good thing I did, too! You were headed for a taffy swamp. Again." He slid down onto the ground. "How did this happen? Thirty seconds ago, you were tiny!"

"I dunno," she shrugged. "After you sent me skyrocketing, forgive the pun, I started glowing with magic sparkles and POOF! Here I am." The antagonist stared at her, swallowing to clear the cottony feeling from his mouth. Finally, he was able to croak, "Why did you follow me?"

The president's eyes turned steely as she fixed him with her gaze. "I may be young, but I know what love feels like, Wreck-It Ralph. I also know that I love _you_." She came over and sat on his lap. "I will always love you and I'll always find a way to be with you. Get the picture?" Ralph blinked at her, screwing up his face as he started to cry. He pulled his beloved close, tucked her head under his chin, and wept. Vanellope smiled and reached a hand up to cup his cheek. "Hey, Boogerbutt, stop cryin'! You're gettin' snot in my hair."

The wrecker chuckled and heaved a great sigh. "Sorry, Kiddo. I guess we're both just a mess today, huh?" She smacked him. "I'm an adult n- Huh?!" They both looked down and saw that she had changed back to a child. "Aw, man!" she screeched, fresh tears falling. "Just when I got him to listen!" The girl sniffed and got up.

"C'mon, Ralph," she said darkly, "I gotta talk to Calhoun and _you_ are gonna escort me!" Before she had taken two steps, though, she aged again and tripped over her longer legs. Ralph hurried over and helped her up. "Ki- I mean, Vanellope, you wanna ride on my shoulder? If you're gonna go from being a grown-up to a kid and back it's going to take us forever to get back to the castle." The president shook her head and started walking again. "Thanks for the offer, Jeeves, but I need to do this myself." She took a few more steps and tripped again. "Fine," she said into the dirt, "I'll ride your stupid shoulder." She just barely fit in her usual spot.

They were finally able to get underway and walked in silence. When they came out of the woods and saw the palace in the distance Vanellope spoke at last. "Y'know, Ralph," she said quietly, "I don't care that you're a Bad Guy so why should that matter to you?" Ralph exhaled and took a deep breath. "It's not just that I'm a Bad Guy," he explained. "It was also our age difference. I knew from the day I woke up from the reboot I cared about you, but as I spent more time with you that feeling of friendship deepened into affection and that scared me." He reached up to steady her as she shrank.

"I was in love with you even though you were a child and it was wrong, so I tried to avoid being in a situation with you where someone could get the wrong idea. Especially me." They started up the white path. "I kept telling you it was bad that I was a Bad Guy as a way to put some distance between us and maybe convince myself that I _didn't _love you, we were just friends."

"Well, _that _worked. Not!"

"Nope," he agreed.

Vanellope grew and jumped down to walk beside him, holding onto his arm to steady herself. "Y'know," she mused aloud, "as grim as it may be, I'm kind of glad you got that Virus. I had had a crush on you for a long time. I thought I could keep my feelings a secret, but when I thought I was going to lose you…" she trailed off.

Ralph smiled and grabbed her hand. "Nothing puts everything into perspective like impending doom, huh?" The racer laughed and agreed. In the distance two figures ran towards them. The giant hastily let go but the racer snorted and grabbed his hand back. "Those two already knew about my feelings and you pretty much confessed yours so I think holding hands is okay, Loverboy." Ralph blushed and said nothing.

Felix and Calhoun stopped just in front of them and the handyman whistled lowly. "Jiminy jaminy, Sweet Pea, you look wonderful! Turn around so we can see." Calhoun snorted and shook her head. "We're not gonna have a problem, are we, Fix-It?" she growled under her breath. He looked up at her and said in all seriousness, "Certainly not, Ma'am. I prefer blondes." She smiled a tiny smile and batted his hat bill down.

Vanellope spun around, giggling, "So this is what you meant by 'leave it to me', huh, Sarge? Is this permanent?"

"Yep. Short Stack and Lemon Drop had the idea to make you a new skin. You just need to learn how to control switching back an' forth. I thought you would be taller, though."

The younger woman measured herself against everyone and found that she was about a head shorter than the soldier and only came up to the villain's chest, but at least she was taller than the repairman by about a foot and a half.

"Please forgive us for going Turbo and manipulating your code, Vanellope," a dull voice said.

Sour Bill had been close behind the Fix-Its when they had run down the drive, but he was so small no one saw him. He had stayed back a respectful distance to let the four friends have their moment but now seemed like a good time to speak up. Vanellope shrank and walked over to him. "There's nothin' to forgive, Sourpuss." She kissed the top of his head and hugged Felix. "This is the second best thing that has ever happened to me!"

"Only the second?" Ralph asked. "What was the first?" The girl climbed up his arm and whispered in his ear. He turned bright red and everyone knew what she had said.

At the front of the arcade Yuni called out that Litwak was coming. The three outsiders looked at each other in a panic, yelling at the same time, "Oh crap!" The president whistled to get their attention and motioned towards the castle. "I'll get the C.L.A.W. unit to give you a ride to the entrance. Let's go!"

Before too long the pink box car was driving towards the rainbow bridge and Vanellope realized that she didn't get a chance to say goodbye. "Aw, skittles," she sighed, disheartened. "Don't worry, Madam President," Bill hummed, "he knows you're thinking about him. She smiled down at him and suddenly grew. "Thanks, Bill. Man, this is gonna take some getting used to!" She glitched involuntarily and yawned, "Well, I'm going to bed. Tell one of the extra racers they can have my spot on the roster. You can pick who. Good night." She disappeared into the castle.

* * *

The other Niceland residents knew something was up with their villain. All day Ralph had been grinning like a loon but he wouldn't say why. They all suspected that Felix knew what was up but he refused to talk. "It's Ralph's business," he would say, "and he'll tell you when he's good an' ready."

They didn't get the chance to ask at quitting time though. The wrecker took off so fast he almost left the fixer in the dust at the trolley station. The two of them rode in silence until Felix heard Ralph mutter, "Sweet Mother Hubbard, now I know what she meant when she said she was gonna vurp…"

"What was that now?"

"I think I'm gonna be sick," he said a little louder. "I mean, I've been thinking 'bout Vanellope all day and I'm really happy, but what if we're not ready for this? F-for being in love. What if it's a mistake?"

They pulled into Game Central Station and the handyman helped the Bad Guy out of the cart. "Ralph, my friend, that's a risk that everyone in love takes. Relationships are good or bad depending on what people put into them." They walked towards where Calhoun was waiting so they could all head to Sugar Rush. "You want some advice?" Felix asked. "Take it slow and when you two are comfortable you can take things a small step forward."

"I think I can do that. Thanks, Felix."

"Anytime, brother."

* * *

Vanellope paced back and forth at the base of the rainbow bridge, anxious to see Ralph and not at the same time. "What if this is a mistake?" she muttered. "What if I'm not ready for this and I'm in over my head? What if he changes his mind?"

"Do I need to slap you again?" a voice called out.

Taffyta had seen the trench her friend had worn in the ground and came over to comfort her. "Everything will be fine, Vanellope. You love him, right?"

"R-right."

"And he loves you?"

"He practically said so."

The strawberry racer grinned, adding, "Then you got nothing to worry about. Just be happy. Oh look! There he is!" Vanellope whipped around, huge smile on her face, only to discover she had been tricked. "You stink, Taffyta…"

The prankster laughed, "Well, I had to get you out of that funk! But seriously, there he is." She spun the other girl around to prove her sincerity. Without a second thought, Vanellope ran up the bridge, jumped, and grew in mid-air. "Catch me, Stinkbrain!" He did and spun around with her. She puckered her lips and leaned in for a kiss, only to be stopped by a giant hand. "No kissing 'til after the fifth date," he chuckled, much to her annoyance.

The four friends walked to the starting line of the roster race and were about to head up to the royal box, when Vanellope motioned for them to wait. "I'll be right back, guys. Hold up." She glitched across the field and appeared in the announcer's box. "Attention, fellow racers!" she called. "The random roster race will be delayed for two hours. Please be back on time and ready to roll out! Thanks."

With that, she glitched back to her party and shrank to sit on Ralph's shoulder. "You're pretty good at controlling your skins, Fartfeathers." the giant admitted. The girl beamed. "Thanks, Admiral Underpants. Been working on it all day." She turned to the other two people. "I hope you don't mind the delay. Since the cy-bugs ate my kart yesterday I need to make a new one and I'd like you all to help me." Felix looked at her, confused. "Well, sure, Sweet Pea, but why do you need our help?" Vanellope smiled her most puckish smile and stated, "I wanna make a kart that looks just like the last one so we gotta break the bakery." They laughed as they made their way to the kart bakery.

Because she was on his shoulder, the racer was able to subtly lean over and whisper in her wrecker's ear, "If there's no kissing 'til date five, what happens after date one?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," he muttered back, smiling warmly.

* * *

**The end! **

**Just kidding :) Stay tuned for the epilogue!**


	28. Epilogue part 1

It's been three years and Ralph knew it was finally time to take the next step with Vanellope. The question was: how to ask her what he wanted to ask? There was a lot to do before it happened. He had to find the right place, make sure he had the necessary things, and making a romantic dinner beforehand would probably help set the mood.

A panicked thought struck him: could he do this right? He was so worried he was going to mess up and offend Vanellope.

When he confided in Felix the handyman clapped him on the shoulder and laughed boisterously, "If you can't do it, brother, NO ONE can! I was worried too when I asked Tammy and we all know how that turned out." He shooed the villain out with a final, "I have complete faith in you, Ralph. Go get 'er."

Well, that was a load off his mind. His next stop was Hero's Duty to talk to Calhoun.

"Go somewhere that's special to the both of you," was her advice when he asked her about a location. "Like where? I kinda don't want to do this in my game and her game has lots of memories for us… I don't wanna ruin that." She smiled and gently slapped his cheek. "This will only make those memories better, Junkpile," she said. "How 'bout Candy Cane Forest? It's where you two met." He nodded enthusiastically. "There's an idea! Hey, can I borrow your cruiser? I'd like to find a spot that has a little more privacy."

"No, but you can take yours. Smith still has the extra one he made."

Now that that was out of the way, the wrecker needed to find some supplies. This whole effort would be wasted if he didn't even have the _one_ item he needed most! Taffyta would be a good person to ask for help but she and Vanellope talk about _everything _and he wanted to keep this a secret. He decided to ask Wynchell and Duncan. They wholeheartedly agreed and immediately set out to find anything remotely suitable.

Ralph breathed a sigh of relief. This wasn't so hard! Until he realized the hard part was yet to come: how to carry out his plan without Vanellope finding out. Well, maybe enlisting Taffyta wouldn't be so bad, he just would have to make sure he didn't tell her what's up. She looked at him suspiciously when he asked her to keep the president busy but agreed.

When the doughnut cops returned they had enough materials to make extras just in case something happened to the first one which Ralph was very grateful for. This meant that he could figure out how to put it together and how to make it the right size.

When Sunday came around he was ready to put his plan in action. Ralph snuck into Sugar Rush early in the morning to make sure he would have enough time. He found a plot of land that wasn't riddled with taffy swamps that would work splendidly and started to clear the area.

* * *

"That was so much fun! Who knew we could run fast enough to actually make it around the loop!" Vanellope squealed. She and Taffyta had just come out of Sonic's game and now they were on the prowl for some lunch. Taffyta plopped down on a bench, utterly exhausted. "Yeah," she gasped, "who knew?"

"You alright there, Tootsie-Pop?"

"Fine. I just have to remember how to breathe."

Just then, Candlehead walked up. "Taffyta! Vanellope! What's up?" she said as she waved. The vanilla racer waved back and patted a spot next to her on the bench. "Not much. Just breathing and trying to find a place for lunch. You wanna join us?"

"I'd love to!" the birthday racer squealed.

The three of them ended up in Burger Time and shared one of the humongous burgers. "So what are we gonna do now?" Vanellope asked through a mouthful of food. "You get to pick next, Taff." The strawberry racer put a finger up to her mouth as if to ponder but she already had a destination in mind. "Well, there's a shop I'd like to check out in one of the levels of a Rampage game. Is that okay?"

"Hey, fair is fair. I picked the last place so shopping it is! You have any plans, Wax Drip, or do you wanna come with us?"

"I'd like to come, if that's okay with you two."

They walked to the port and hopped onto the tram. Taffyta and Candlehead leaned in together and whispered, "She has no idea, right?"

"Right. Ralph said to get her dolled up and I could use a new dress anyway." The two girls grinned impishly and snickered, "This is going to be fun!"

* * *

"No. Just- No!" Vanellope crossed her arms and glared at the frou-frou _thing_ her friends wanted her to wear. "C'mon," they wheedled, "You'll look really pretty!"

"I don't care! NO!"

The two conspirators sighed and put the dress back on a hanger. "You're right," Taffyta said over her shoulder, "it was a stupid idea. That wouldn't fit you as a grown-up anyway." She disappeared around the corner and helped Candlehead find a dress to try on. "Ooooh!" They both squealed suddenly. "Vanellope, c'mere! Be big so we can get this one down." She sighed but complied.

When she came to where they were she saw which one they wanted and raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Are you guys sure? That one won't fit you." Candlehead scuffed the floor with a toe, and mumbled, "We wanted _you_ to try it on. It looks like chocolate and you would look so pretty in it and I bet Ralph would like it too." Taffyta glared at her for saying too much, but the damage was done. The vanilla racer slapped a hand to her forehead and laughed, "So THAT'S what this is about! Well, Ralph actually isn't too fond of chocolate. He said it looks too much like mud."

She started riffling through the other dresses. "Besides, _he's _not the one wearing the stupid dress, now is he?" She pulled out a mint green and white cocktail dress that buttoned up to the neck, had puffy sleeves, and came to just below her knees. "If I gotta wear something dressy _this_ is more 'me', dontcha think?" The girls nodded and pushed her to the dressing room. "Try that on and we'll find some matching shoes!"

Vanellope pursed her lips as she weighed her options. "C'mon, Vanellope," she finally sighed, "you _did_ promise them you would try _one_ on. Might as well make it this one." Just as she got the clothing on a box was pushed under the door. "This was all we could find that you would like," one of the girls said. A package of black and white striped tights also made its way under the door. The woman opened the box and shrieked in delight, "Perfect!" Inside was a pair of pink, knee-high Chuck Taylor styled sneakers. She put on the tights, laced up the shoes, and came out to show off.

"Alright, you two, I'm sold. For whatever devious plan Ralph has you helping him with I'll wear a dress." Candlehead and Taffyta high-fived and circled their leader, smiling.

An hour later, after finding something for the other two, the three girls paid for their clothes and left. "Uh, Vanellope? You might have an easier time seeing over those boxes if you were bigger."

"True!" she panted, "But then I would also look like your guys' mom or something."

The birthday and taffy racers grinned mischievously and turned back.

"Uh, where're you guys goin'?"

"Back to the store to change," they said together. "You might want to, too." Vanellope sighed in defeat and went back to change. It would be easier to wear her new things and carry her old ones. She had learned that her two skins were independent of each other so she could wear her usual outfit as a child and switch to her adult form in a completely different outfit. If she really wanted to, she could do just that: wear the dress as an adult and switch to her less bulky child clothes, but she kind of want to show off, especially for Ralph.

They came out into GCS and saw the time. "Wow," Candle yawned, "we should probably get back. I'm getting tired." The other two nodded and they went home, heads bobbing as they fell asleep on the train. The two children were pressed up against the woman's sides and Vanellope had her arms around them. A knock woke them and they saw that it was Ralph, come to meet them at the station. "Rise an' shine, sleepyheads. You don't wanna be out here all night, do ya?"

They disembarked and Vanellope did a double take. "What's with the monkey suit, Stinkbrain?" He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I wanted to go somewhere nice with you," he admitted, "but I think that might have to wait for another day." He picked up the girls (who immediately fell back asleep) and started walking down the bridge. "C'mon," he said quietly. "Let's get these two home and then I'll take you back to the castle." Vanellope was too tired to object so she jogged to catch up. Maybe it was because she was too far away or too sleepy, but the thought she heard him mutter "Good work, you two" under his breath.

Ralph was too big to fit in the tiny houses of the village where the racers lived so Vanellope ducked under the stoop and tucked each girl in her bed. After the last child was taken care of, the president shut the door quietly behind her, yawned, and took the villain's proffered arm as they walked back to the palace. Or, at least they walked to the entrance of the village and Ralph pulled out his cruiser. "When you guys didn't come back when I thought you would I figured we'd end up here." He threw it down, scooped her up to hold her bridal style, and took off.

Vanellope laid her head against Ralph's chest and listened to his heartbeat, frowning when she realized that they weren't going to the palace. "Did you get lost, Fun Dip? The castle is that way!" Ralph shrugged and tried to keep his face straight. "I know. There's just something I need to show you, first." They slowly descended, eventually stopping in the air, and he put his beloved down carefully in front of him.

"V-Vanellope, there's something I've been meaning t-to ask you."

She had an idea where this was going so waited with bated breath for him to finish.

"Can you look down for me?" She did and almost fell off the board. There, right below them, Ralph had cleared the ground so it was flat and had laid out enough peppermint trees to spell out 'MARRY ME VVS'. Vanellope gaped at him, completely stunned. The Bad Guy smiled a small smile and reached into his tux coat. He pulled out a small, hinged box. "Whadaya say, Boogerface?" he said as he opened it, "Will you marry me?" In the box was a candy ring made from a thin piece of licorice and a sugar crystal gemstone. The racer was silent and still.

Ralph worriedly waved a hand in front of her face. "You in there Vanellope?" She shook her head, blinked as she came out of her shock, and closed the box gently.

"Land," she commanded.

"Huh?"

"Land, Numbskull! I'm telling you to take us down!"

This didn't bode well but he obeyed. The giant's insides froze as he kept thinking to himself, 'She's gonna say no. This is it: she doesn't want me anymore,' among other horrible thoughts. They alighted on the ground and Vanellope jumped off to sit on a stump. "Let's try that again, Chumbo," she smirked, "And do it right this time!"

Ralph blinked and realized what she said. Unable to stop beaming, he bent down on one knee and opened the ring box again. "Vanellope Von Schweetz," he said solemnly, "Will you do me the honor of becoming my bride?" She beamed back and held out a hand. Ralph pressed his lips together and sheepishly held out the box. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart," he mumbled. "It's too small for me to grab. It was all I could do to put it together!" She calmly pulled the ring out, put it on her middle finger, and held up her left hand to inspect it. "I know it's not very pretty, I don't make things very well, bu-"

"I love it," she croaked.

"Y-you do?"

"IloveitIloveitIloveitIloveit!" she shrieked happily, tackling him and plastering his face with kisses. "I love it! I will marry you, Ralph! I will!" She kissed him passionately on the lips and once he got over his surprise he kissed her back.

When they broke apart for air the man carefully shifted so they were lying on their sides so they could gaze into each other's eyes. "I love you, Fartfeathers," Ralph whispered. "I love you too, Stinkbrain," Vanellope whispered back. They leaned in for another kiss when the roar of an engine startled them.

Felix and Calhoun knew Ralph was going to propose today and had come to congratulate the couple.


	29. Epilogue part 2

Ralph numbly suited up in his armor, ignoring the friendly banter of the other marines. The third time Vanellope had lost her ring he decided she needed something a little more permanent, so here he was. And he could probably use a ring too, now that he thought about it.

The first and second times it happened weren't her fault! The first time was a week after he had proposed; Vanellope was one of the available avatars and things were going great, but one of the more observant gamers noticed her ring and pointed it out to her friend. Vanellope had panicked and quickly taken it off. She thought she had slipped it into her hoodie pocket but it was nowhere to be found. The poor girl had cried for _hours_ after the arcade closed.

The second time Candlehead wanted to see it so Vanellope took it off to pass it to her. Unfortunately, Gloyd, thinking he was being funny, ran up and stole it. He tripped, the ring went flying, and… Well, let's just say that Gloyd spent the rest of the night in the Fungeon.

The third time they were able to laugh about. Mostly. Vanellope had slept in and was running late. She had also slept on her hand wrong so it was numb. These two factors contributed to her forgetting that she had her ring on still. She had splashed water on her face and scrubbed to wake up. When she looked in the mirror she had a streak of red on her cheek from her dissolving jewelry. She didn't cry this time, but she did have a bruise from banging her head on the sink in frustration.

"You ready to go, Wreck-It?" Kohut asked as he slapped the Bad Guy's shoulder. Ralph shook his head to clear his thoughts and grunted. They walked down the corridor leading to the entrance of Hero's Duty to meet up with the rest of the squad. The men were all standing around, and there were some playful scuffles here and there, but when that side door opened and Sarge came out they were all business.

"Alright, Ladies," she barked. "We have one job today: Get _this_ joker to the top of the tower alive." She pointed at Ralph. "Preferably in one piece." They all grinned, except for the 'joker', who was trying not to panic.

"Markowski!"

"Sir!"

"You get to stay behind. Someone needs to be here to take out the First Person Shooter in case we need to end the game early." Markowski tried really hard not to seem relieved, but instead saluted and stared at a point just above her head. "Sir! Thank you, sir!" Tamora smiled and turned on her heel to take her place at the front. "Don't thank me, soldier. Wreck-It thought you were just the man for this particular job." The cowardly soldier blinked and stared at the back of the wrecker's head, stunned, and smiled. He saluted again and went to the back of the corridor where the little robot was already waiting.

Calhoun pulled out her gun and cocked it. "Are you sure you don't want a gun, Junkpile?" she asked slightly less gruffly. "I'm sure," he squeaked. "If I don't have a gun cy-bugs can't eat it and shoot back."

She shrugged, opened up the hidden panel by the door, and identified herself. "Command: run game-play. Execute: open door." The gate opened and the woman smirked. "You ready, Wreck-It?" she asked rhetorically. "Let's find out!" The wrecker turned on his stealth mode and the group of soldiers charged, firing their weapons. Ralph screamed but ran on, punching anything unlucky enough to get in range.

* * *

It seemed like an eternity had passed when they finally reached the top of the tower, even when you take the levels they had skipped into account. The villain had tactfully asked to skip the levels that would play the cut scenes about Calhoun's past. He knew about her lost love, Brad, but he also knew she was reminded enough during arcade hours. The dynamite woman had teased him about being a coward but she appreciated his kindness nonetheless.

They did a headcount just outside the medal room and saw that only about half the men had made it. Ralph vowed to take the fallen soldiers out for a drink when they respawned to make up for getting them killed on their day off. He quickly went up the steps, let the medal be placed around his neck, and left without hearing the rest of the victory speech.

When asked about it, he shook his head and smiled. "I know what they say in there and I'm not doing this to be a hero. I just need the metal and I wanted to earn it fair and square."

He placed the last piece of armor in the storage locker Smith had set up for him in R&D and shut the door. "Thanks, guys," he said heartily, saluted, and hopped on the train to Game Central Station. He needed to talk to a certain blue hedgehog and evil genius about making a ring or two.

* * *

Sonic waved at the retreating figure of the giant wrecker and when he was gone took off to Eggman's after-hours lair.

"Hey, Eggman! You in here?"

"Back here," a muffled voice replied.

The mustachioed villain was in his workshop soldering some wires together for a gadget. "What can I do for you, Sonic?" he asked when he took off his welding helmet. The hedgehog pulled out Ralph's medal and a notebook with some scribbles in it. "Wreck-It Ralph was just here and he asked me to ask you to do him a favor. The big guy needs a couple of rings."

The villain laughed. "Rings, you say? I take it these are special rings, right?" The spiny hero snickered. "Right. Did he tell you that his fiancé melted her last one when she forgot she was wearing it and washed her face? I guess she had a candy ring or something." Eggman rolled his eyes good naturedly, took the notebook, and looked it over. "There's going to be a lot of extra material," he mused aloud.

"He said he also wanted some necklaces to put the rings on, if that's alright."

The man sighed and shook his head. "I can try, but making a necklace is different than casting a ring." Sonic put his hand up to his mouth as he thought, and snapped his fingers when he had an idea. "Hey, you still have that shrink ray, right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I think I just solved this problem and came up with a wedding present to boot!"

* * *

The day of the wedding arrived and Ralph was convinced he was going to die before closing time, if the butterflies in his stomach were any indication. He and Vanellope had decided to wed on a Saturday but when the arcade closed no one seemed to need his help setting up anything. It wouldn't take long to change into his suit so he went to Root Beer Tapper to hopefully get a drink and calm his nerves. If the barman hadn't already left to get ready himself, anyway.

He was disappointed to find that the bar was empty, but strangely enough there were two mugs of soda on the bar with a note.

[Ralph, I'm sure you're nervous, but it'll all be okay. Have a couple of sodas. They're my treat. –Tapper]

The Bad Guy laughed. He really _did_ have the best of friends, didn't he? He finished the sodas and, when he was sure he wasn't going to puke, went to go get dressed. Vanellope would _kill_ him if he was late. Brutally.

* * *

Vanellope was dealing with her own butterflies in her room in the castle. "Tell me again why I have to wear make-up?" she groused to Calhoun. "Because," was the short reply, "you'll look nicer on camera. It's just some foundation and eyeliner so shut up and hold still." The young woman sighed in exasperation but did as she was told. She wasn't too pleased about being on camera, but it was the best solution they could think of: there were too many candy citizens to fit in the throne room for the ceremony so the race technicians were going to broadcast it on the jumbo-trons so everyone would get the chance to see her and Ralph exchange vows.

She stared out the window, thinking of her beloved. "I wish this was over and we were married already. I haven't seen Ralph in two days," she muttered. Tammy chuckled, "Three more hours and you will be."

* * *

It was finally time.

Ralph stood in the little alcove where the throne used to be reminding himself that he needed to breathe.

One of the avatars from Guitar Hero started playing the 'Wedding March' on his keyboard and everyone turned to the opening doors at the back. In walked Felix and Calhoun, as best man and maid of honor, followed by Zangief, Tapper, Taffyta, and Candlehead as the ushers and bridesmaids. When they were in place Vanellope walked in, looking like a dream in a veil and white dress that glittered like spun sugar (which they probably were). Her ebony hair had white Tic Tacs arranged in a line in it instead of her usual scattered candies. She was escorted by Sour Bill. The steward helped her up to the platform and took his seat.

The minister from the Fix-It's wedding subtly nodded and Ralph lifted Vanellope's veil. He looked into her beautiful hazel eyes and all his fears and worries melted away. This was the woman he loved; what was there to worry about?

The ceremony flew by and suddenly he found himself saying, "I do." Vanellope responded likewise, they exchanged rings, and kissed. Vanellope was slightly taken aback by the gold rings Sonic held up (he was the ring-bearer), but Ralph mouthed, "I'll tell you later."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: Mr. and Mrs. Wreck-It."

The couple turned to face the cheering audience, walked down the aisle arm in arm with the biggest smiles on their faces, and made their way to the ballroom where the reception would take place.

Everyone in the arcade came to wish them well so they hardly had a moment to speak to each other.

"So what's with the gold ring, Ralph?" the bride asked between visitors. "I thought the candy rings were just fine!"

"That's just it," he replied. "You kept losing or destroying the candy ones so I thought a metal ring would be better."

"Where did you even get the material from? Don't tell me you stole it from Sarge's game!"

"I didn't steal it!" he said, pretending to be offended. "I won it fair and square!"

Vanellope sighed. "I appreciate the thought, but if a candy ring sticks out to the players, dontcha think a gold ring definitely will?" Ralph smiled and pulled out a long, thin box from his suit jacket. He shook it and it rattled. "Gotcha covered. I asked Sonic to make us a couple of necklaces, too."

When the last well wisher had been greeted they cut the cake. The Fix-Its had warned them against smashing the cake in each other's faces, telling them it was a terrible way to start a marriage, but Vanellope just couldn't stop herself from dabbing a little bit of frosting on the end of Ralph's nose. "I'm not me if I'm not obnoxious," she said sheepishly. His only response was to smile and give her an Eskimo kiss, frosting and all.

Everyone danced the night away until about 3 A.M. when Vanellope was practically falling asleep on her feet and Ralph was having trouble seeing straight. The villain pulled Felix and Calhoun aside so they could hear him. "Hey, I think we're gonna high-tail it outta here. I'm pretty bushed and Vanellope can barely stand." The handyman nodded and motioned for him to lean in while Calhoun went to talk to Vanellope. "Congrats again, brother. I just wanna give you some advice before you go."

He said his piece and Ralph rolled his eyes at the cheesiness, but smiled and thanked him. They walked over to where their wives were and Felix asked Ralph to hold him up in the air. "Ladies and gentlemen," he shouted over the music, "the bride and groom are callin' it a night but you are more than welcome to stay! Let's give 'em a proper sendoff!"

The whole ballroom exploded into applause as the Wreck-Its exited.

The soldier woman pulled her husband off to a quieter spot and kissed his cheek, causing him to blush.

"So, what did you tell Junkpile?"

"Just some life advice. What did you tell Vanellope?"

She batted his hat bill down and whispered something in his ear. Felix's face turned the brightest red and he stared at her, absolutely appalled. "Oh, Tammy," he gasped, "you _didn't!_" She just chuckled and pulled a box out from it's hiding spot in a potted lollipop tree. "I know it's Ralph and Vanellope's special day, but I got tired of waiting to give this to you. Open it." He did so and pulled out a coffee mug. When he read the front he fainted.

It read '#1 Dad'.

* * *

Ralph held Vanellope in his arms as he eased himself into the too tiny cart of the Fix-It Felix, Jr. tram. She was asleep and he hoped that she stayed that way. The train started moving and she woke up. "Whazgoinon?" she mumbled. The man smiled and kissed her forehead. "We're goin' home, that's all."

"Oh. Okay. Hey, what were you talking to Felix about?" Ralph looked away as he blushed and scratched a cheek. "Oh, y'know," he said offhandedly, "cheesy advice. Stuff like that."

"Like what?"

He sighed, knowing she would pester him until he caved. "He said, and I quote, 'Life is a dance and Vanellope's your partner. Never let anything cut in.'" Vanellope snickered, "Yer right: that _is_ cheesy!" She stretched up and kissed the corner of his mouth. "But it's also true." She settled back down next to his chest, enjoying his warmth.

"So, uh… What did Calhoun tell you?" He didn't know it, but Vanellope smirked wickedly.

"Let's just call it a dance move, Twinkle Toes."

* * *

**Thank you everyone for joining me on this wild ride! Good heavens, this thing got huge...**

**I'd also like to personally thank Rocky Rooster and LexisTexas2000 for being my biggest supporters. You guys are awesome! :D**


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